Applebloomed

Chapters

Cutie Mark Crusaders Mad Scientists YAY!
The Pack
In the doghouse
A Challenge Issued
A Challenge Stalked
Meeting the Challenge
To Bite or Bark
Stalking Prey
To Play Dead
To Slink
Taproot
Graft
Broken Branches
To Appear Healthy

Cutie Mark Crusaders Mad Scientists YAY!

Author's Note

I may or may not complete this... but it was an idea that I felt needed a little exploration. I'll make an effort to write at least another chapter since I do have an idea where I want it to end, but it's a fun little thing to throw around so it may be a while.

Or not.

Happy reading.

Cutie Mark Crusaders Mad Scientists YAY!

The last thing I remembered before waking up was a horrible something lodged somewhere inside me. I can't remember what it was, and I don't really want to. I didn't like it. I DON'T like it. I don't know what it was and I don't want to.

But, whatever it was, it didn't take long before everything became strange.

I can't really describe it, not really - parts just don't make sense. There was dark and light, hot and cold, dry and wet, and sometimes they were happening at the same time. There was even pain, of a sort, but it wasn't anywhere I can name or even point to, and it didn't last long when it was there. I can't really say I understand what happened, but I know that whatever that thing inside of me was, it was what caused everything.

I know that time passed. No idea how much, but when parts started to fade away, I know that it was distressing. I didn't know it at the time, but thinking back to it... thinking back on it really... well, I think I was losing parts of me the whole time and just didn't realize it.

A lot of me really.

Most of me.

So much that I didn't even know what was happening when a big, yellow and red warm thing touched me, I didn't even realize it. I was just.... there.

And that's where my story really begins.

I was in a field somewhere. I know this because I ended up coming back a few times since then. It... smelled the same. Kind of grassy, a little like soil, and quite a bit like rock dust and pine needles. Even now there's a little tang of granite if you let your tongue hang out a bit. Not really all that common as I've come to find out, but anyway...

I was in a field when the thing came by and scooped me up. For the briefest of moments, there was wet and the feeling of being crushed before I was flying. It would have been a heady sensation if it hadn't ended so quickly with a sharp crack upon something hard and brown. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. I wasn't given much time to think it over though before I found myself being jostled and battered between a number of the brown somethings.

Oddly, though I was being battered, it didn't occur to me that I was suffering any ill effects. Certainly I was being injured, perhaps critically in my confused and diminished state, but the feeling of pain never registered. Idly, I bore witness to the world around me: a seeming blur of light and sound, color and texture, even as I was reduced infinitesimally by each brutal impact.

Slowly, I came to notice differences between the brown things. Some were larger while others had a different feel to them. Some were darker or even sported slight splashes of color upon their bodies. Some even made different sounds when we collided.

It was much more stimulation than I had encountered for quite some time.

Despite all this, I did not find the experience to be disrupting or enjoyable. Rather, I found myself truly only able to experience it and, later, reflect back upon the event.

Before long, two other large blotches of color joined yellow and red. One was a soft white, somewhat like the fluff of cat-tails, with a smear of floral pastel purple/pink. The other, a ruddy orange (like iron-bearing river mud) with a shock of grape and a very strange noise which came and went without apparent reason.

These three things seemed to stay in constant motion, often crashing into one another or letting loose cacophonous howls of nonsensical jabbering. Though some time later I discovered this to be their form of speech, I was not yet aware enough to recall anything of their exchange. To this day, it plagues me for I might have avoided a number of difficulties had I discovered their intentions.

But, for the moment, I was a curious (though oblivious) passenger upon their little dance of madness.

For a time after my brief excursion I was allowed to rest. The world had once again become dark and the temperature had crept lower, stirring a vague desire to move. Of course, I didn't. I couldn't move. I lay there. I had lain there. I was content to lay there, and yet, somehow, I felt the desire to move. While perplexing, this afforded me the opportunity to consider my circumstances.

I could lay there. I was content to lay there. I felt a desire to move. I couldn't move. Thus, I was content to lay.

Crisis averted, I resumed my active laying, content in the knowledge that laying was something I not only wanted to do, but was fairly good at.

And that's when Yellow and Red scooped me up again.

Once more I found myself wet and crushed for a moment before soaring, only to suddenly recall my recent experience and anticipate the worst. Though it hadn't hurt, I knew that I had been injured by my earlier travels. Something concerned me about that: I should know why I should be worried, and yet, despite my best efforts, the only reason I could come up with was that being struck repeatedly interfered with my laying... which was important work.

Filled with such woeful knowledge, I braced for the inevitable bludgeoning again, only to be startled by the most wondrous of sensations. No sooner had I come in contact with my assailant than I noted the difference from my previous treatment. Instead of a hard brown thing striking me, I found myself sinking into something cool and dark, damp with a rich earthy smell.

It felt wonderful.

It actually felt wonderful.

I wasn't sure what was happening, but suddenly the notion of just laying seemed trivial in comparison to the glorious act of sinking into the damp stuff.

And then the strange smells and lights started to happen, each followed by the raucous howls of the big things and tremblings through the damp stuff.

Time and again it repeated. Colors and light, noise and vibrations. Each time getting brighter, louder and stronger. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I did not want to be there. I missed my field. I missed my bright dark and my hot cold. I even missed my wet dry, though not as much.

I was just reevaluating the positive aspects of the cool damp when the colors suddenly came all around me and the strangest of sensations raced through me.

I felt stretched, sore, crushed inside myself as if trapped and needing to escape. There was a horrible moment of agony before I suddenly felt myself surging free, stretching in the best possible way as the cool damp seemed to comfort and protect me. The world was there, actually there, and in so many more ways than it had been.

It wasn't merely color and light, heat and cold, sound and scent. It wasn't even limited to taste or depth, something had fundamentally changed and I couldn't, for a moment, determine what until I chanced to realize that the cool damp seemed to have diminished while comforting me.

In a moment of thoughtlessness, I tried to comfort the cool damp, causing (what I later found to be called a 'flowerpot') it to be overturned.

Dismayed, I reflexively shifted back and promptly discovered why my precious cool damp had become less - I had grown.

For a few precious moments, I struggled to understand what was occurring before being interrupted in my thoughts by the howling and baying of the three, now not quite so, giant things. I flinched back, instinctively trying to hide from the larger things as they hooted and howled to one another.

It was a strange sight, the three of them, they looked somehow familiar and yet so very strange. Each stalked upon four limbs, though they were so obvious that it would be impossible to hunt. Each searched the world with a set of leaves upon their heads, though they hardly looked to have stems at all. Each clearly had a maw, and yet their thorns were so small they would be lucky if they could pierce a blade of grass. Even stranger, their thorns seemed to have all broken evenly, leaving them clearly unable to catch their own prey. Worse, even their roots and barbs seemed to be missing, leaving them clearly defenseless.

They must also be suffering from their state, for their bodies bore the most unhealthy swaths of color... they clearly were diseased and likely to die soon. And yet, they moved so fluidly.

It must be a wasting disease or a fungus...perhaps a burrowing beetle or larval infestation that only sapped their strength. I wasn't sure, but I pitied these wolves... they would be lucky to see their first budding.

Presently though, their howling stopped and the yellow red came close, looking me over from all sides as I stayed perfectly still.

The others seemed to notice as well, and before long I found myself the object of their fascinations.

It had been days, a term I slowly recognized, as yellow red continued to check on me every few hours. I had been given my own small den, a burrow of the cool damp, and a bud of some sort for company. The bud, as healthy as it seemed, was silent, preferring instead to gloat at me silently with its enormously bloated, bright red bloom while I explored my granted territory.

It was small. Of course, I was small as well, but with how ailing the others had seemed, I felt a small gift had likely cost them greatly. It was... rewarding to feel accepted into their pack, even if only as a small role. I could make myself useful. I could prove that I could help the pack.

The bud, lazy as it was, seemed content to gloat silently the entire time.

I was mistaken.

The bud hadn't been gloating or lording his lot over my own.

He had been passing on.

I awoke that morning to find his sides soft and the delicate scent of passing to be upon him. Yellow Red, when she came to check on me, discovered this as well and, like a true alpha, handled her loss with the utmost efficiency. She carefully pulled Bud from my territory, firmly but gently enough not to damage his peel, and disposed of him. She even went so far as to discard him where his seeds might take root.

I have a good alpha, a strong alpha. I doubt that I could have done as she.

The rest of the pack returned later that day. Though they did not bring food, they brought the proof of their vicious combat out in the wilds. Whiteflower, whom I noticed has the only intact thorn amongst them, is apparently the alpha while in conflict with outsiders. She seemed the most energetic when she displayed a pile of white things from an odd pouch on her side.

Curious, I had approached and, after they had jabbered at me, sniffed the white pile.

If I had been concerned for our packs future, the crushed and pressed remains of the Unmoving Tribe dispelled such concerns. That such a pack-mate could fell such beings and be able to reduce them from their towering forms into such easily carried snacks... well, I had no concerns of our pack's ability to hunt anymore.

Dirtysap, as much as she seemed to be physically impressive with her delayed leaps, does not seem to be a capable hunter at all. She cannot seem to use her greatest advantage, her leaping skill (which defies all understanding as she can hang in the sky for moments without moving), without alerting prey to her position by way of the infuriating, high, whine of a growl that she constantly makes. Even worse, I fear for Dirtysap as she seems to growl from both her maw and her young branches.

Yellow Red, however, has proven to be the undisputed alpha. Even when Whiteflower and Dirtysap go out to hunt or mark territory, Yellow Red keeps me nearby. I believe she may be seeding, despite her size, with how protective she is of me.

It has been a number of days and I have finally been given permission to explore Yellow Red's den.

It is enormous.

The ground is made of more Unmoving Tribe corpses, the sky is held back by an unreachable something, and the den itself seems to be able to be cut off from the rest of the world, securing us inside.

Despite the ingenious methods of Yellow Red, I have come to realize that our pack is not the only pack in the area.

Just this morning, a towering wolf (also diseased it would appear) broke into the den and howled at Yellow Red. It was the color of dying leaves and setting suns except its eyes which shown with the light of freshly budded leaves in the spring. Though Yellow Red managed to route the larger wolf, it was not without strain for she then proceeded to roam around the den for a few minutes, collecting offerings before setting me back to my den and departing for most of the day.

When she finally returned, she seemed weary and covered in a foul smelling rain.

I do not particularly like Ambercrown. That wolf will be trouble.

If I had been concerned about Ambercrown, I admit terror when I witnessed a true monster stalk by Yellow Red's den opening. The wolf was easily four times the size of Yellow Red, dwarfing even Ambercrown.

When he stalked, he moved slowly and with purpose, his body also discolored, though by his size, I have started to wonder if he may be a different breed of wolf. Where Yellow Red is larger than I, Ambercrown is easily three times her size. The Predator is enormous, the color of a dieing conifer or a sugar maple in fall, and (unlike the others) made almost no sound as he moved.

When he entered Yellow Red's den, he didn't even howl at her, he simply stalked over, picked her up in his maw, and put her on the ground where she promptly woke up. That he would do such to an alpha.... I suddenly fear for our pack once more.

The Pack

Author's Note

Another glimpse into the mind of Sprout.

As always, feel free to let me know what you folks think.

The Pack

Yellow Red is encouraging me to explore the den more and more. Today, while she was sleeping, I found the snack she obviously left for me next to my burrow. Unlike my fallen pack-mate, Bud, Yellow Red left no confusion this time. She had set a pile of the Unmoving Tribe corpses that Whiteflower is so fond of only a few paces from my burrow after having poured over them for much of the night, presumably checking for parasites, beetles, or fungi which could harm us.

That she would take the time to prepare a treat for me is beyond anything I could imagine an alpha doing. I have been starving slowly, but seeing as how they are all so ill, I understand the need for sacrifice. That they would still offer me shelter, that they have chosen not to simply prune me from the pack and eat me in their dire time is evidence enough of their respect for the pack. That Yellow Red would put so much energy into preparing a meal she could clearly use herself - that she would do so at her own expense - and simply leave it for me to consume at my leisure...

After my meal, I decided to thank her. I climbed out of the small territory she had offered me, a loose area she kept shaded with a thing, not unlike the one which keeps the sky at bay, above and strange artifacts to the sides, and proceeded to struggle up the thick-fog which she prefers to sleep upon.

It smells of the sky and dirt and Yellow Red and Bud... or Bud's close family, I'm not certain. It is... unnerving to stand upon. It is both firm and weak, giving at the lightest touch yet refusing to give way. I do not understand why she seems to like it so. Regardless, I crept up to her carefully since one does not startle a sleeping alpha, even one as gracious as Yellow Red.

Some few steps before I could lick her, she seemed to sense my presence and one of her great eyes opened and stared at me.

It was the most unnerving thing I can recall. She looked at me, unblinking, for several seconds before her eye seemed to change color before me, sliding up into her head and changing to a white, somewhat brighter than Whiteflower. She must be a very special alpha to have such strange powers. I don't believe I have ever seen any other wolf change the color of their eyes.

Thankfully, I appeared to have been forgiven as she slowly closed her eye again. With permission thusly obtained, I crawled forward and curled up next to her, careful to keep my thorns and roots away from her trunk.

As powerful as she may be, her bark is still a sickly yellow and seems to be so infested that it feels like nothing so much as a feather-fine moss. I couldn't risk injuring my alpha, in her state even an accidental brush with a thorn or damage to her roots could prove disastrous.

I had just settled down to nap when Yellow Red moved, draping a branch over me and pulling me closer.

I have a good alpha: even in her fever sleep, she wishes to protect me.

I awoke to the sound of the Unmoving Tribe's remains being disturbed. My alpha is clever. Even while she is out hunting, by using the bodies of the Unmoving Tribe as part of her den, their voices call out when an intruder disturbs them. Safely in the dark of my burrow, tucked under the sky-barrier with the thick-fog above, I was well hidden from the intruder.

Even so, I knew what to do. Quietly, so as not to alert the intruder to my whereabouts, I crept along the back of my burrow and hid among the gifts she has given me to play with, then laid down and relaxed, gently settling in among them.

Keeping my eyes as only slits, I waited while the intruder stalked around Yellow Red's den, fearless.

It wasn't until the intruder started to growl that I knew for certain what it was: Ambercrown had come to claim Yellow Red's den.

The implications were horrible. Either Ambercrown was brazen enough to oust Yellow Red outright, a feat she could potentially accomplish with brute force, or she was scouting for a future raid, willing to scavenge for now in hopes of a larger meal later.

That Ambercrown would be willing to do either was distressing. Yellow Red had little enough as it was, despite her clever methods of changing the world, but she could hardly afford to lose her den. Even if she chose to abandon it, to make another would require hunting and killing even more of the Unmoving Tribe, something that Whiteflower would (no doubt) enjoy, but would set the pack back weeks, if not months.

I had just decided that I must protect the den when the Unmoving Tribe screamed out in alarm as Yellow Red announced her approach through a series of progressively louder clatterings. Before Ambercrown could even respond, an entire section of the den wall swung inwards and struck Ambercrown, sending her tumbling to the ground. For the briefest of moments, her great green eyes glinted in the light before her head struck the floor with a resounding howl of the Unmoving corpses.

I closed my eyes and waited.

A few moments later and the two were howling and barking at one another again.

Somehow Yellow Red forced Ambercrown to flee, once more sparing our pack the insecurity of being without a den. I scrambled out a moment later to congratulate my alpha, but instead of joy, she spun at me with fire in her eyes.

Once more, I am reminded that a pack looks out for its members.

She must have been angry that she had to fight off Ambercrown by herself, having to resort to her odd magics and using the den as a weapon since I did not come to her aid.

In her anger, she flailed the remains of my snack repeatedly above me, barking and growling the whole time.

Clearly she was indicating that if I didn't even help to protect her or the den that no more treats would be provided.

Seeing as how much time and energy she put into preparing them for me, at her own expense, I cannot help but be ashamed.

I should have flung myself at Ambercrown, root and thorn, briar and barb, and held the den until Yellow Red, Whiteflower, or Dirtysap had responded, or I had moldered away.

I feel so very ashamed. I slunk back to my burrow and hid under the dark damp.

Even the dark damp seems to be ashamed of me: it has long since become the dark dry and offers little comfort.

It has been two days since Yellow Red has offered me a treat, though she did occasionally check on me. Once more, she brought a plump bud to keep me company, though it as well passed away shortly thereafter. Perhaps that is my place within the pack? To provide companionship to the dying?

She once again honors me.

I cannot explain how proud I am of her trust in me, and it pains me to recall my cowardice in the face of Ambercrown.

I have resolved to defend Yellow Red against Ambercrown should the need arise once more... though, I hope it does not come to that.

Dirtysap has returned from her scouting. It's a strange thing, even though it risks revealing our pack to the others out there, I admit that the strange growling that Dirtysap seems prone to is oddly comforting in its familiarity. It was a very odd experience for me, waking to the faint buzzing and finding my tail swaying in anticipation of her arrival.

Dirtysap wouldn't have hidden from Ambercrown.

So when she burst into the den, it was no surprise that she utterly ignored me, instead prancing around Yellow Red and expressing her joyful return in a rapid exchange of barks and yips. I watched quietly from the edge of the den, trying not to anger them as Dirtysap related her, no doubt, dangerous adventure.

When Whiteflower entered a few minutes later, my shame was driven even deeper.

While Dirtysap was likely scouting, picking off stragglers and the infirmed (something evidenced by the sap of the Needle Clan), Whiteflower bellowed her glorious victory as she cried out in triumph. Upon her back lay scores of the pressed corpses of even MORE of the Unmoving Tribe.

I have no doubt at all that Whiteflower would have leapt to Ambercrown and torn her roots clean off, broken thorns or no.

I couldn't help myself. I curled up and tried to make myself as small as possible. I didn't deserve to be in the same pack as those three, let alone the same den.

So it was with infinite surprise when I felt something nudge me and a soft murmur coaxing me to look out.

Whiteflower was inches from me, one of her thin branches gently stroking my trunk. Behind her, Yellow Red gave me a dirty look before seeming to decide upon something.

After a few more moments, the three were barking and yipping again, though Whiteflower seemed to keep pointing at me. Yellow Red, understandably dissatisfied with my performance in defending the den, seemed against whatever it was while Dirtysap seemed indifferent either way.

In the end though, Whiteflower seemed to win out, perhaps because of our dire need of food.

Before I knew what was happening, they were all on the move, leaving the den.

I had just started to slink back to my burrow when Yellow Red stepped in front of me with one of her strange creations: a smaller burrow, similar to the one Whiteflower brought back the Unmoving corpses in, and pointed for me to get inside.

She is going to abandon me for my cowardice, but I cannot fault her for it. She must see to the good of the pack and I... I am a weakness we cannot afford.

Yellow Red loves me. Whiteflower loves me. Dirtysap... tolerates me.

Yellow Red did not decide to abandon me at all! The pack decided to take me on a hunt!

As clever at Yellow Red is, she hid me in the corpse shadow and snuck me out passed Ambercrown into the open world outside of the den.

I do not know how far we have come, but when she let me out, I found that we were in a smaller den somewhere else.

A HIDDEN den, away from the prowling Ambercrown. My alpha is a genius.

While Ambercrown may have scouted out our den, our pack has been secretly constructing a second, hidden from the prowling eyes of her wicked stare. While she may, even now, be preparing to ambush our pack, we are safely away; comfortable and protected.

May her roots be infested and her branches rot. Ambercrown is no match for my alpha.

While I do not have a burrow here, Yellow Red showed me around while Whiteflower and Dirtysap watched. To my surprise, I discovered that this den is not only hidden, but is actually connected to one of the Unmoving Tribe itself! Somehow, my alpha must have intimidated it into service (probably with Whiteflower's battle prowess), and has since allowed it to live in exchange for its silence.

That, of itself, is incredible, but what I discovered next was both the most amazing and horrifying thing of my life.

Outside of the hidden den, Yellow Red showed me our territory and hunting grounds.

There are Unmoving Tribe outside the hidden den, standing in formation, for as far as the eye can see. Their numbers are such that their leaves taint the sky and their trunks play games with the eyes, hinting at paths and tunnels that disappear when one moves.

And I discovered where Bud came from. Bud was of the Unmoving tribe.

I was not to have been his companion, it seems, but his executioner.

In the doghouse

It has been three days since Yellow Red relocated us to the hidden den. Now that I know that she has been trapping and cultivating a massive herd of the Unmoving Tribe, I somewhat understand her willingness to tolerate Ambercrown and the Predator. With a herd of this size, feigning weakness is a viable strategy to keep them from investigating into 'barren' territory.

My alpha is a tactical genius.

And she's put me in charge of guarding the entire herd while she's off tricking the other packs.

I don't deserve such a glorious task, but I refuse to let her down. Not again. Not after Ambercrown broke into our old den and threatened her. Not after the Predator simply walked in, bold as a phoenix, and tried to claim everything. Not after she relocated us all to let the trail go cold. She's already done so much after taking me in... I refuse to disappoint her again.

I have taken to patrolling the herd at night while the darkness helps to hide my movements. I am not as stealthy as Yellow Red or my other packmates, but I am healthier than they are, so I suppose it doesn't matter as much. They may have more hunting experience, but the fear that Yellow Red has instilled in the herd of Unmoving leads me to believe that they fear me as an extension of her will.

Even if I am wrong, they haven't moved against me... openly.

On my first night, patrolling alone, a number conspired to intimidate me, hiding the sky and trying to hide the trail back to the hidden den. I wandered for hours, growing slowly more concerned until I saw it briefly in the distance. I raced back, daring them to stop me, hoping they would try so I could prove my strength for Yellow Red, but they must have seen my determination for they remained motionless.

For good measure, and to remind them who Yellow Red had put in charge of her herd, I selected one of their young to be culled. It was a small thing, not likely to have rooted anyway... it was probably a kindness in retrospect... but I ate it in plain view of them all. It was tender and juicy and not just a little frightening to me, but I didn't let them see that. I needed them to know that I was willing to do anything to protect my alpha... to ensure the pack was safe. I'm sure they haven't forgotten as they have not dared to cross me again.

When she came to check on me in the morning, she seemed so proud to have found the remains of my 'example'... she played with me for a bit and even roughed up my bark to check for beetles and weevils presumably. Whatever she was doing, it felt wonderful... it felt... right. I'm not sure when I started, but my brush had begun swaying and she made those light yipping sounds that my pack makes when they're happy.

Maybe I should try it sometime when I'm sure she's happy with me too.

I have been guarding the herd for nearly a week now, each night extending my prowl to familiarize myself with the herd. What I had at first believed to be massive is, in reality, without compare. I have never seen such abundance or health in the Unmoving Tribe. She may be their singular ruler, but she apparently tends to their needs well. Not a one of them is truly weak or infirmed, many in their prime, and yet she keeps them all in line, as little more dangerous than a briar.

Then again, seeing how the dens have been constructed, it must make sense to take every opportunity to remain in good health, lest they arouse her desire to expand the den. Yellow Red is almost terrifying in her poise in this... she fosters such an air of innocence and weakness, yet maintains such a bounty. Her charisma is truly beyond all understanding.

But apparently, even her skills have limits.

During my patrol last night, I overheard a commotion and skulked along to investigate. Something had invaded the herd, ignoring the remains of the buds I had been leaving to ward off the curious, and had begun to stalk through our territory unchecked. Something had violated our territory... something had shown the gall to insult our alpha.

I couldn't let such an insult lay unchallenged. It had taken most of the night, but I finally tracked the intruder down and had drug along the largest bud I could find to make my intentions known. After all, intimidation is a clear way to communicate even if we don't speak the same language.

It's hard to argue with a resident casually eating a fresh kill.

I finally saw it, a large wolf stalking through the south end of the herd, with a tiny piece of the SUN in its mouth. How it had climbed high enough to bite it, let alone keep it, didn't matter... it was in our territory, so I did my best o stalk around so that it would 'come across' me eating the fresh kill. I almost felt sorry for the bud... it was far too large to actually eat all of it at once... it would likely persist for some time before succumbing to its injuries. I'm sure Yellow Red would give it a proper burial... but I'm not Yellow Red. Right now, I need to be terrifying enough to scare the wolf away... to make it wonder why I would willingly kill such a healthy bud... why I would risk it while surrounded by it's kin.

I needed to be as intimidating as the Predator. I needed to be as crafty as Ambercrown. And I needed to be as wily as my alpha... if only long enough to scare the wolf off.

I just hoped it would work.

So, carefully stalking around the wolf, I snuck a few lopes further away, carefully selected my stage beside a large rock that would play off the shadows cast from the wolf's sun, and sank my thorns into the firm flesh of the bud...waiting for the moment the sun's light would play upon the stone and give me reason to enact my ploy.

I didn't have long to wait. First, there was the shuffling and the scraping... sounds of a wolf with little fear in the herd... clearly not expecting any challenge. No wolf would stalk in such a way, not when in enemy territory at least, unless it was confident in being able to meet any challenge. Either an experienced gatherer or a true, though large, cub then.

Next came the sweeping arc of the sun, sliding across the herd nearby, causing shadows to jump and flee and making the false trails race and dance as it passed. For a moment, it flashed directly over my back, throwing my own shadow across the herd before moving on.

It had looked at me, but somehow not seen me! I wasn't sure if I should be proud of my masterful skills in stalking or insulted that I hadn't produced a terrifying enough scene to cause the wolf to flee.

Perhaps I had created an image so horrifying that it couldn't understand what it had seen? That must be it... after all, it was unreasonable for a small cub like myself to have brought down one of the Unmoving's very own buds... especially one of such size.

Sighing internally, I knew what I would have to do... draw attention to myself and be as intimidating as I could to try and shock the wolf from our territory.

So I waited until the shadows swept by again, the sun closer to the stone, until I could feel the light on my leaves.

With calculated slowness, I turned my head, dribbling some of the bud's juice from my thorns as I looked over my shoulder into the wolf's sun and growled softly.

I couldn't see the wolf for the sun's brilliance, but I knew the moment it recognized me that I had made a mistake.

A horrible, pack effecting, den endangering, mistake.

When it yelped in surprise, I had anticipated the startled bark of a scouting wolf coming across a scene of indescribable carnage, but what I heard was the unmistakable bellowing of Ambercrown.

She had found us.

I ran.

My escape was a hectic one. When I fled, I had originally expected my knowledge of the herd to provide me a significant advantage, a lead and a boon against the pursuing Ambercrown. I had expected my size to provide me with a speed advantage as I leapt and dodged the Unmoving and their injured branches. I had believed Ambercrown would be slowed by her size, by her reliance upon that flicker of the sun, but I had been wrong.

Somehow, Ambercrown chased after me with almost alpha-like skills. She had dodged trunk and root alike, even going so far as to anticipate the Unmoving's unpredictable branches and my own sudden course changes. She had chased me for what felt like hours, howling and braying in the night as she hunted me.

I had made a grave miscalculation... I had believed my act would terrify but it had somehow seemed to infuriate the intruding Ambercrown. I would worry about how she had found us later... for the moment, it was more important to lead her away from the hidden den.

I had no illusions that she might not come across it eventually, but if I could delay or confuse her long enough perhaps Yellow Red, Dirty Sap, or even the fearsome Whiteflower might be able to route her and save the day.

So I ran in circles, around the trunks, and down the fake trials the Unmoving seemed so apt to make, until I was thoroughly lost, and then I ran until I saw something that was distressingly frightening for reasons I couldn't explain.

There, at the edge of the herd, was a pile of rock that rose into the night sky... high enough to touch the moon.

And for some reason, it made my sap thicken and my leaves wilt just seeing it.

I must have stumbled... there is no other explanation... for when I opened my eyes again, there was no sign of Ambercrown. I lay there, reluctant to collect my other pieces from the scattering I had ended up as, until the true sun finally began to light the herd, and only then slinking off into the herd again to find my way back home.

I had run away again.

I was a coward and a failure.

And I had let Ambercrown roam unchecked for half of the night.

Surely there was to be no mercy for me this time... I could only hope that bringing back the largest bud I could find would sway my alpha's core... I didn't want to be left to mold and rot at the edge of the herd.

It had taken longer than I would have liked to find my way back, and when I had, I knew that Ambercrown had found the den. The alpha's trophies were scattered, the hidden den's sky walls were open and the pile of bud remains that I had been hiding to impress Yellow Red had been scattered around the base of the hidden den like so many twigs from our pack's safe haven.

It made a certain amount of sense, of course... Ambercrown would want to leave a message, to mark the den as her own now that she had found it. I couldn't blame her... seeing a herd that large, terrified to rebel, and being kept in check by such a weak coward as myself... no, I couldn't blame Ambercrown.

It was my own failing.

I did my best to gather the remains of the buds, to salvage as many of their seeds as possible. I knew that Ambercrown had just been trying to mark 'her' territory, but what she had done to those remains was simply cruel. There wasn't even enough left for their seeds to survive the winter, scattered like that.

I may have been trying to impress the alpha, but even I knew that they couldn't hope to bud if there wasn't enough left of them.

Ambercrown truly is a monster... and, despite my best efforts, I had led her straight to our den.

I carefully piled up as many of the remains as I could find and started digging. Even if many of them wouldn't survive, I could try to give a little back to the pack even if I wasn't there to see it. Hopefully, when Yellow Red and the other two returned, they could fight off Ambercrown and protect the den. Even if they didn't keep me, maybe in a few seasons, the saplings of the buds would give them enough extra food to forgive me. I really rather doubted it... in a herd of this size, a few saplings would probably go unnoticed, but I really had nothing else to offer.

So, I dug and dug, sinking lower into the cold damp until I felt something strange...

I... I felt something familiar... something...... comfortable.

And with a sharp tug, I pulled out a small, hard, brown thing.

I didn't know what it was, but at that moment, I knew... I simply knew that I wouldn't have to hide from Yellow Red.

Something had changed. I piled the seeds and the bud remains into the hole and covered it up, but I wasn't really paying attention any more.

The small, hard, brown thing had my attention. It smelled of lights and sounds and trembles in the dark damp. It felt of hard knocks and not-pain. It tasted like sun and moon and cold and warm and dry and wet all at once.

I couldn't understand why, but I needed it.

I swallowed it whole.

And that was when Yellow Red came running up, looking scared until she saw me. And then she leapt at me and was whimpering and growling and checking for beetles and roughing my bark.

My alpha loves me. Despite everything, my alpha loves me.

Author's Note

Once again, unedited...

BUT, let me know what you all are thinking.
Do you enjoy where this is heading? Are you finding the change of perspective engaging? Does Sprout seem to be developing as a character? What are your thoughts? What was up with the 'remains' and the constant 'bud' references? Is it 'dark' enough to account for the differing views?

And yes, I'm still working on the story graphic... I'm having trouble getting the colors to come out how I want them... don't worry... it's coming.

A Challenge Issued

Yellow Red is upset, but not with me. I can understand this, of course, since Ambercrown invaded and violated the hidden den, chased me, and defiled the gift I had been saving for Yellow Red. Anyone in the pack would have been mad, but Yellow Red... she almost seems worried.

Dirty Sap and Whiteflower have visited many times, but even they seem worried after Ambercrown's invasion. They've all been back less frequently, presumably on their own patrols seeing as how I was unable to repel Ambercrown on my own.

I still feel ashamed to have run... no pack member should be afraid to protect the territory, let alone the den... but they seem to have forgiven me. Perhaps they believe I am too small to realistically protect the den on my own. It feels... strange. I know I am the smallest in the pack but.... I feel like I am bigger at the same time. It is confusing. Maybe it's because I have been hunting the Unmoving tribe while my pack is patrolling.

If they've been hunting for all this time, I must still be small because I have only started to hunt.

I know I can be helpful. I know I can get bigger.

I just have to hunt.

It has been three days since I've seen any of my pack. The Unmoving are up to something... they're whispering when I'm not watching them, sometimes even barking in the cool air of the night. It is... unnerving that they are being so open. I wish I could understand what they're saying... I hope they're only consoling one another since I have begun to hunt in earnest. I don't want to think what they might be planning if my pack doesn't return soon.

Yellow Red may be brilliant enough to keep them in line, but there are a terrifying number of them... all standing in perfect lines... watching me and whispering in the night.

When I awoke this morning, I knew something was wrong. The air smelled different and there was damp all over the den and my bark. Something had happened in the night, I just didn't know what until I went to check on the herd. That's when I knew I needed help.

It has been four days since Yellow Red has been here and the Unmoving must somehow know that it is only me guarding them. Sometime in the night, while I slept after my patrol, they all decided to put up a blatant threat. They're trying to scare me.

I bristled and growled and threatened them as best I could, but they remained stubbornly resolute. Even after I brutally slaughtered a half dozen buds, they stood, glaring with their horrible coats prepared as if for war.

I retreated to the den, overfull from my rampage but too overwhelmed to present a confident front. I know my alpha will forgive me for hiding... she'll understand when she gets back and sees them all painted the stark colors of the cursed phoenix.

I just hope she comes back before they decide a show of force is the next step in their rebellion.

Ambercrown invaded again last night, but I did what Yellow Red has always shown me to do instead of facing her. I laid down, relaxed, and waited.

She was much more brazen than last time. Instead of just wandering around and scouting the territory, she actually came up to the hidden den directly. She came in, inspected everything, and even picked me up (in pieces no less) and threw me outside. Yellow Red is a genius... Ambercrown is too foolish to know I can reassemble myself! She must have been tricked into thinking me dead.

If it wouldn't have given me away, I would have barked out my laughter... but instead, I waited... watching... the perfect spy for my alpha.

She roamed around a while, doing things I couldn't quite see clearly without being all in one place, but I could hear her scraping and moving things in the den. When she finally left, I waited until I couldn't hear her anymore before pulling myself back together. I quickly returned to the den to investigate, expecting her to have dusted over the whole place in an act of conquest but, oddly, she had just moved things around a bit. Nothing was broken and nothing that I could see was even far from where it had been.

I couldn't understand it. One moment Ambercrown is a seething maw of anger and violence and the next a quiet scout. Does she, perhaps, live under the control of an alpha herself? Perhaps the Predator? He certainly is large enough.

I ignored my patrol for the night, instead intent on watching the den in case Ambercrown's trickery bore some unforeseen harm.

It was a long night.

Yellow Red returned this afternoon. At first, I was overjoyed to see her approaching the den, finally returned from her long hunt or whatever it was, but then I saw her muzzle.

She walked up the corpses of the Unmoving, her stunted roots making less noise than usual, but paused behind the den wall. I watched until she paced out of sight before appearing at the den entrance. Her muzzle was leaking sap... thin, red, sap.

Sap should not be red. It should be amber or even clear if it is early spring, but her sap was a dingy red. She must be suffering greatly to have her sap affected so, but still she puts up a brave front. Her eyes though, in those she cannot conceal her pain. Not only was she hurt and angry, but she seemed almost resigned.

I knew what I had to do. I'll recover from whatever punishment she sees fit to give me but she needed my help. She is my alpha.

I pounced on her and started to clean the sap off. If she couldn't feel it dripping then she clearly wasn't aware how dangerous it is to lose sap. Without sap, we grow tired and weary, weak, and eventually stiffen. With the Unmoving already sensing my weakness I couldn't let her appear injured.

She barked and yipped a few times as we rolled on the floor, but eventually I got the sap off, my mossy tongue leaving only a few sticky smears that she wiped clear on her own. She continued yipping and churring at me for some time, but eventually grabbed me and held me uncomfortably close, burrying her muzzle into my chest in a sign of dominance. She even reminded me that I should not have treated her as such, whimpering and whining into my trunk in a frightfully discomforting way.

If I didn't know better, I would suspect she was trying to find comfort in me... but I DO know better. My alpha is strong. My alpha is a genius. MY alpha is a brutal, ferocious, alpha who has faced both Ambercrown and the Predator multiple times, protected the pack, and amassed a huge herd of the Unmoving tribe. She couldn't be weak enough to need me to comfort her.

I have only succeeded in running away from them... she hunts them daily.

And yet... when she finally released me, her muzzle was damp and a little of the sap had started to leak again.

I helped her clean it up... she yipped.

Her sap tastes strange... and bad. I hope she survives the night.

When Dirty Sap and Whiteflower arrived, Yellow Red greeted them in their normal yipping barks, though she seemed tired or worried. I couldn't tell. While Yellow Red was quieter than normal, Dirty Sap started her buzzing and barking aggressively almost immediately. Though I know she wasn't challenging Yellow Red, she certainly displayed all the right signs. While Yellow Red wandered around aimlessly, Dirty Sap followed, barking and leaping as if looking to fight. Whiteflower seemed distraught but, unlike Dirty Sap, only showed signs of frustration and concern. After a few minutes, the pack settled down and Dirty Sap gestured towards me.

I watched as they studied me for a few moments before Yellow Red motioned for me to come over. I knew instantly that she was going to discipline me now that the entire pack was here. Let it never be said that she isn't fair; she wanted them all to know that I had been punished so they wouldn't need to do so themselves.

My alpha is thoughtful like that.

I slunk over, brush between my legs, until she picked me up and held me. For a few moments, I waited to be bitten or thrown, but instead she just held me.

Eventually, I realized that she was holding me tight and making soft whimpering sounds into my bark.

I don't know what happened on her hunt, but something has hurt my alpha... something that Dirty Sap and Whiteflower combined could not stop.

She needs me. Even though she is brilliant and can intimidate an entire herd of the Unmoving, she is too sick to come apart. I don't think she could pull herself back together. But I can.

I won't let my alpha go out hunting alone again. She needs me. While the pack discusses their hunt, I quietly relax a bit and shake off a few small twigs. It is uncomfortable and disorienting, but I need to help my alpha. I hide the little parts of me in her travel den... the one she carried me to the hidden den in... the one she always has with her when she goes hunting.

I will help her.

We all stay in the den for some time, somehow knowing that Yellow Red needs to just be with us. Dirty Sap buzzes quite a few times, it is obvious that she wants to fight whatever hurt our alpha. Whiteflower seems just as distressed yet, despite her hunting prowess, seems just as helpless before the unknown thing. It is frightening that my entire pack seems struck by Yellow Red's injury.

It makes perfect sense: to cripple a pack, one must strike at the alpha. The alpha is the strength of a pack. More than hunting or caring, more than protection or territory, a pack is a pack because the alpha is stability and family and everything all in one.

If an alpha is weak, a new alpha must come forward to guide and care for the pack. If an alpha is foolish, a new alpha must be recognized while the fool falls to its foolishness. If an alpha is not worthy of being alpha, the pack must make a new alpha.

But when a good alpha leads a pack none of that matters. The pack is stronger for their skill, smarter for their wisdom, more powerful for their abilities, and heartier for their care. A good alpha makes the pack. A good alpha is part of the pack. A good alpha becomes the pack and the pack becomes part of the alpha.

Yellow Red is a good alpha.

Striking at a good alpha harms not only the alpha, but the pack.

We are hurting because our alpha is hurt. Dirty Sap is trying to use her skills to fight what isn't there. Whiteflower is using her skills to try to plan for when it comes again. Yellow Red, despite her injuries and sickness, is trying to comfort us all. Why else would she be holding me now?

She already knows she's the alpha.

And then, I hear it. In the distance, far off but not far enough to be of no concern, Ambercrown has started to howl.

The pack's response is immediate.

Yellow Red puts me down, only taking a moment to check my back for beetles before heading out to face the interloper. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower follow quickly.

I turn to follow as well, but Whiteflower stops me, gently pushing me back into the den and making soft churring sounds at me.

She wants me to stay while they go to face Ambercrown.

I should be there with them. The alpha is taking the pack. I am part of the pack.

I wait and watch them skulking off into the herd of Unmoving, completely unconcerned about the herd's display of color as it prepares for rebellion.

They are braver than I.

But I am not so helpless as they think.

I can hear them long after I have lost sight of them in the herd.... deep inside the traveling den, a few of my twigs listen as they start their hunt.

A Challenge Stalked

It is strange listening to the world from two places at once.

After the pack left me to guard the den, I only made two short laps around the herd, making sure the Unmoving knew that I was watching them, before I curled back up in the hidden den and closed my eyes to concentrate.

Nearby, the Unmoving began their quiet hissing and chattering as an evening breeze gave them more courage than while the pack was nearby. Rustling and creaking softly, so as to unnerve me, they droned on, no doubt plotting their eventual retribution. As numerous as they are, I know that as long as Yellow Red, Dirty Sap, and Whiteflower are around, they pose no lasting threat. Though it is frightening to see their number and unity, distressing to see them painted in the colors of the phoenix, I doubt that they will make their attack with my alpha so close.

Knowing this, I try to focus upon my twigs as they travel with my alpha.

It is difficult. Every sound is muffled and the phantom sensations of scraping and bumps from within the traveling den makes understanding muddled, but with a bit of effort (and my paws over my head), I began to hear more clearly.

Wherever they are, my pack is traveling relatively quietly. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower only offering soft rumbles occasionally while Yellow Red chooses to remain almost silent. The sounds I hear are mostly of the Unmoving as they pass, though there are others I do not know the source of. Before long, however, I hear the quick exchanges of yips and soft barks as the three suddenly become quiet. It is a moment before I understand what has occurred; Yellow Red has split the pack up to stalk their prey.

Dirty Sap and Whiteflower make no further sound as Yellow Red must have directed them to hunt alone. With such a small pack, it makes sense... by breaking us up into more units, we lose some power but make up for it in stealth and mobility. We cover more ground and can track independently. While the tactic is surely more dangerous than hunting as a pack, the fact that all three have such vast experience suggests that this is a normal event for them.

I listen as Yellow Red departs from wherever the three had traveled to, the muffled sound of her roots brushing through grass and over open soil: the only evidence of her passing. I am just about lulled to rest when I hear the unmistakable sound of the groans of Unmoving corpses. It is with a quick start that I realize what the sound means: my alpha has returned to the main den.

I don't understand.

If Ambercrown has taken the den, why invade our old territory without the support of the pack? My alpha is fast and strong and reliable... but one thing she is not is foolish. I simply do not understand her tactics. That must be it. She is simply playing some sort of brilliant scheme in which her invasion of a noted threat, without support, somehow benefits our pack.

I simply do not understand how yet. I begin to pace in the hidden den, the Unmoving outside mocking me with their noisome chatter as the evening breeze whips through the herd.

She continues into the territory, her roots making soft scraping noises as she roams, no doubt scouting to see what Ambercrown has changed in our absence. It is while she is doing so that I hear the muffled howl of Ambercrown from somewhere nearby.

I cannot risk this any longer. My alpha needs me.

My twigs are far too distant to simply pull them to me, but I can feel them as I try and it gives me an idea of where I need to go. With a sharp snarl at the Unmoving, I race through the herd.

I just hope I am not too late.

I ran for a time, passing uncounted Unmoving all set for war, passed the hills and away from the hidden den. I ran through the evening, the sun low and throwing the colors of the phoenix across the herd. I don't know if the sun supports their rebellion, but right now I don't care. I run until I am not sure I can find the hidden den again, all the while following the distant tugging of my twigs as I listen for any scrap of sound to tell me if my alpha is alright.

I don't even care if the Unmoving see me running. I don't care if Ambercrown hears me. I... I do worry about the Predator but there is nothing I can do about that one - the risk is too great to leave my alpha unprotected. I run.

After what seems like hours, the sun having already fled from the night eye, I finally find it: the den. Our den. I have never seen it from the outside and the sight brings me up short for a moment. It is a towering cave made entirely of the rough hewn corpses of the Unmoving. It dwarfs everything around it, stained the same red as the rebellious Unmoving that surround it. The top of the pile is littered with dark lichen leaves and strange meat-bone parts seem to hold points of significance.

I knew my pack was powerful, but seeing their den.... our den from the outside brings whole new meaning to their skill. Our pack is no weak hunt, our pack is as the rending fang of a snarl or the glorious howl of victory. And all about it, the Unmoving stir, murmuring in the night but far too terrified to act. As I slow, I see the Unmoving have even used the bodies of their fallen to construct a barrier around our den... a feable attempt to hold us back. It, too, is colored as meat-bone, but is only just taller than my alpha.

Their barrier means nothing.

Glancing at the nearest Unmoving, a gravid sentry with its buds bloated and heavy, I crouch low and sneak past. Despite their attempts at keeping our den penned in, they have failed to account for one very important thing: I am smaller than the rest of my pack.

It takes but a moment to slink underneath the meat-bone corpse of one of the Unmoving, the barrier little more than a tight squeeze. Even so, I pause to listen after I am through... it would not do to come so far only to be discovered and stopped by the sentry behind the barrier. Hearing nothing, I tense again, feeling my twigs shift inside the den.

The Night Eye watches as I quietly slink across the clearing near our den. I have never been outside and do not know Yellow Red's magic to enter, so I must make a careful inspection before attempting to sneak in. No doubt Yellow Red has set traps and magic to protect the den, things I must not set off.

A troubling thought crosses my mind; those same traps have been beaten at least once before... Ambercrown now resides here.

With a soft growl, I chase the thought away. There is no time for such things while Yellow Red is in danger. I haven't even heard her for most of the run. My steps quicken as I prowl around the den, keeping to the shadows as much as possible, a task made much more difficult by the perimeter the Unmoving menace have created.

As I slip into a brush of tall grasses, I hear the unmistakable sound of Ambercrown's soft growling from somewhere inside. I freeze. I heard her growls from two places. I wait, listening as her roots scrape across the Unmoving corpses that make up our den, trying to find where she might be, but there is too little to tell. I haven't roamed the entirety of our den... I never even knew how large it was. What I had thought was the den must have only been a tiny part, perhaps set aside for whelping.

My alpha is a good alpha. I know I am not her own, but she has taken me and treated me as her own pup, bringing me to her own whelping chamber and keeping me safe.

I will find her.

A few more minutes of quiet stalking and I have found a small entrance. It is only about the size of Yellow Red and has a strange thin cloud that seems trapped upon its edge, but I can clearly see into the den. The only problem is that it is so high up that only Dirty Sap could likely make the jump. There are a number of them scattered along the outside of the den, but the rest all had hard air blocking them. Yellow Red's magic, no doubt. Brilliant, my alpha... she made the air solid and noisy if touched, but still clear so she could keep a watchful eye on the herd.

But Ambercrown is a fool, a powerful, vicious monster, but still a fool. She does not know Yellow Red's magic. She does not know how to keep it working and this little piece has clearly failed. I am clever and I will use her ignorance to save my alpha.

It takes a while, but I find enough scattered bits of the Unmoving to make a pile high enough to peek into the hole.

My muzzle is wet. It smells of the mutilated buds of the Unmoving and things I cannot identify. There is an overwhelming taste of the Unmoving buds that fills my mouth and nose, but there is also a strange pain that races up my muzzle and over my tongue. I yelp and fall down the pile, shaking my head to clear the trap Ambercrown must have set for me.

A wet splattering of hot Unmoving buds litters the ground around me, coming off my muzzle in thin, hot, foggy globs. My muzzle aches and the smell won't leave. I look back up to the hole and see a rim of something gray-blue in the light of the Night Eye... resting on the edge of the hole. From this thing thin wisps of fog climb into the air where I disturbed the trap.

Growling softly, I know what I must do. Trap or no, I will not be kept from my alpha.

I climb the pile again, being careful not to make any noise as I lean away from the hole before peeking in.

There are two of them resting on the edge of the hole. One is clearly sprung, its cratered brown shell broken with its molten insides weeping fog into the night from the uncounted buds lurking within. The sight is frightening but oddly tempting. We eat buds, and when I get older, I will go on to hunting the Unmoving in earnest, but for now it is something probably meant to frighten away potential rivals.

After all, if one is so cruel as to slowly kill the Unmoving's buds, in plain sight of them, they must not be a wolf to be challenged.

I need to help my alpha... Ambercrown's madness will not stop me. I will beat her traps.

It takes a moment to work up the courage but I finally touch the sprung trap. It hurts. It hurts quite a bit. My muzzle hisses and I start to make little twitches as I set my fangs upon the rim and pull it towards me. A moment later, I am dropping the trap at the base of the pile.

It screams.

Ambercrown's traps can scream! With a desperate pounce, I land upon the howling thing and silence it with one quick bite.

There is pain all over my undersides. My muzzle and paws scream as the traps magic tries to tear me apart but I resolve to beat it. I bite it again and again, feverishly working to kill this wicked little thing and keep it from alerting Ambercrown to my presence. I am wreathed in thin tails of fog as I attack it, but I don't have time to care, it must be stopped.

It takes time to tear it apart but, when I am through, I am sure Yellow Red would be proud of me. I have painted the ground with the remains of Ambercrown's trap. If Ambercrown had seen me, I am certain she would have thought me a monster from my vicious and unrelenting assault.

Emboldened by my victory, I lick my paws clean. I cannot leave a trail of gore to mark my passage.

And then I realize as I look over the scene of carnage before me, I must conceal my mess... and there is nowhere to hide it all in.

Muffling a snarl at my mistake, I begin lapping up the remains.

At least they taste good.

A few minutes of cleaning, and a remarkably filling meal, and I edge my way up the pile again. This time, I glare at the second trap and carefully lift it with my fangs. It too is painful, but I have learned. The outside is only a little painful... it is the inside that is the real trap. Bearing the pain, I carefully climb back down the pile and creep across the clearing back towards the Unmoving. If it screams, I want it to be far enough away that Ambercrown won't hear it. Probably.

Securing it under the barrier, I spot a strange thing made from even more Unmoving corpses and drag it over.

It is about as large as I am but even though it is large, it is hollow and open on one side. Clearly this must be used to horde things... what other purpose could there be? Despite its improper use, the thing covers the trap easily and, I hope, will silence its scream if it goes off. Glaring at the thing, I smirk as I turn and raise a leg to dust it for good measure.

I am sure that if Ambercrown had seen me do this, she would have wanted to tear my head off for the insult, but at the moment I just didn't care.

I was beating Ambercrown one trap at a time.

Finally, I was able to climb the pile and peer into the den without being hindered by Ambercrown's traps. Whatever part of the den I had found was a large, dark, chamber that smelled of the buds that my pack seemed to love so much. There were other scents, but between the trap and the pain from earlier, I couldn't rely upon my nose entirely. EVERYTHING smelled like buds.

With a soft snort of frustration, I scrabbled over the ledge and promptly fell into the darkness.

It figures that Ambercrown would trap even her traps. Glancing up, I could see the hole clearly, though no way to reach it again. I knew there would be risks.

Glaring for a moment, I let my eyes brighten a bit and took in the cavern around me. There were things all around, things I did not know the purpose of. There were things on the ground, on the sides, and even different heights of the sky barrier above. Yellow Red's designs were as impressive as they were confusing. It didn't matter though, I had to find her.

Stalking through the cavern, I tried to be as quiet as I could. Ambercrown was here somewhere and I didn't want to let her know I had beaten her traps. Slipping between a number of upright things, all made of the Unmoving, I found myself at the edge of another cavern, this one faintly lit by a captured bit of the sun which sat on a little meat-bone colored stick. It was resting some ways away, with an ancient moss-colored diseased wolf sleeping nearby. THAT wolf would be easy to get around, but the knowledge that Ambercrown had a pack after all was distressing. How many others were residing in our den? How many others were, unknown to Yellow Red, stalking her right now?

Tensing again, I felt my twigs nearby and, with a glance, noticed Yellow Red's traveling den leaning up against one of the den's sides.

This was bad. Without her traveling den, I couldn't find her quickly and would be forced to roam the den until I did. Worse yet, even if I did find her, I could be lost and unable to escape with my alpha, trapping us in our own den. Frowning at the thought, I left my twigs so I could find my way back again, even if it meant hearing myself roaming around in a confusing way while I searched.

For all its size, the den proved to be remarkably simple in layout, if not execution. There were barriers and sides everywhere, often sectioning off otherwise large chambers in strange ways, and plenty of strangeness that I did not understand. But, though it was simple, a full circuit of the first chambers revealed no other evidence of Yellow Red. In fact, other than the moss-colored wolf I was starting to think of as Badsentry, there were no other packmates at all. Finally, my search brought me up to a strange set of grounds that rose steadily upwards, similar to the hidden den, but broken up rather than smooth.

If Yellow Red had constructed this den, she may have retreated to a secret part by similar means. The hidden den had remained hidden for longer than the original den... the condition of her construction probably spoke to her skill growing over time. What was up there was undeniably older than the hidden den... older and more secure.

I carefully started to climb the thing, the soft scratching of my roots and thorns making me flinch every so often as I glanced back at Badsentry. Despite my noisome passage, she continued to slumber on, blissfully ignorant of the intruder that was sneaking through the den. I was thankful, once more, that Ambercrown was as foolish as she was; placing Badsentry might well have saved my alpha.

It took a bit to get used to the strange construction but I finally got to the top. Here, as below, a tiny piece of the sun danced upon a meat-bone pillar casting it's amber glow across the den. Unlike below, here there was noise.

Behind the sides, I could hear a number of strange noises, all softly murmuring in the night. I stepped carefully forward before yanking my paw back at the strange give to the ground.

It was soft and giving, but springy like moss. Glaring at it, I carefully nudged it with a root before stepping more fully upon it. When no alarm scream followed, I tentatively took another step before tracking the path of the soft-thing down the tunnel before me. It covered all the ground but a small edge to each side. And then I understood.

With more confidence, I stepped again and again, smiling as there were no scraping sounds as my roots and thorns didn't touch the Unmoving corpses. Yellow Red must have placed this thing to keep Ambercrown from hearing her. With a grin and a fresh burst of courage, I started to cross the tunnel when the sharp groan of an Unmoving caused me to freeze in my tracks.

Right. Yellow Red is brilliant, but she is not a fool. I am clever, but I got overconfident. Ambercrown is foolish, but capable.

Carefully easing off my paw, the Unmoving gave out a soft moan as I took a step to the side. Much more cautiously, I crept down the tunnel until I recognized a patch of the side I had seen when Ambercrown had invaded the den before. It was outside of the whelping den. I excitedly looked across from it, expecting to see the cavern I remembered, but instead saw only more Unmoving corpses.

Of course, Yellow Red's magic.

I stared for a moment longer before softly touching the corpse. There was only the soft tap of my muzzle but no alarm screams.

Tilting my head, I listened carefully to what was beyond. It was quiet except for the soft whispering of something in a rhythmic muttering. It was higher than Ambercrown, and decidedly softer than Dirty Sap (who seemed to growl in her sleep). It wasn't Whiteflower because I knew she liked to hunt on her own at night but often returned smelling of another similar wolf (perhaps a mate or sibling I hadn't met).

Ruffling my bush, I nosed at the side, looking for any sign of how Yellow Red worked her magics. Time and again, my muzzle tapped along the side with no difference, slowly working my way across the curious magic until I chanced upon a small gap near the ground. It was tiny, far too narrow for even my paw to slide through, but it was there.

I stepped back onto the soft-thing and glanced around, making sure nothing had snuck up on me while I was exploring, before I laid down and started to slowly relax, going to pieces one at a time.

When my left eye finally fell down, I carefully nudged it forward, rolling it under the side through the gap, and waited until it came to rest... in the whelping chamber.

She was resting upon her cloud thing, perfectly fine. My alpha was safe. I tensed again, my eye sliding back into the tunnel, and reassembled myself.

I had done it. I had found my alpha and she was safe. I was so excited I nearly howled in delight.

And then I felt something tingly in my roots and brush.

I glanced back in confusion. The tingling spreading and creeping up my trunk, leaving a fuzzy, almost giddy feeling across my bark.

Oh no. The tunnel must have been trapped after all.

With a panicked thought, I scratched at the side my alpha was behind, hoping against hope that she would use her magic to let me in, to protect me from whatever monstrous thing Ambercrown had devised.

The tingling was nearly at my neck as I felt my bark bristling and my bush standing on end. I started to whimper and then I saw it... a diseased wolf at the end of the tunnel where the ground from below came up, staring at me. Unlike the others, this one was almost as small as I, though it had a bit more height. Unlike myself, it looked malnourished, its trunk only barely thicker than Yellow Red's leg. It was looking at me with little black eyes and, unlike Yellow Red, Ambercrown, Badsentry, or even the Predator, it had all of its thorns and barbs.

Right as it looked like it was about to charge, the tingling overcame my head and I let loose a howl I had never intended. The howl seemed to echo in the silent tunnel, charging up and down the den and sending the angry guard fleeing.

Immediately there were more howls. Far in the distance, I could hear them, calling out into the night as they responded in turn. And then much, much, closer.

From below, the scratchy bellow of an ancient wolf lanced through the night followed by an unholy clatter and clanging.

I covered my head with my paws, but my twigs heard every deafening shriek from the traveling den.

I whimpered and scrabbled to get away just as the side suddenly opened and my alpha stared down at me in disbelief.

Only taking the time to glance around, she grabbed me and threw me into the whelping den before hiding me under the cloud thing and starting to howl and run around her cavern.

Moments later, Ambercrown burst in and Yellow Red raced past her into the tunnel leaving a very confused Ambercrown to stare at the cavern.

Thankfully, the howling passed quickly and the evil clamor was ended.

I would not think of her as Badsentry again. She was Evil.

I fear Evil's voice.

"THE TIMBERWOLVES'R A HOWLIN'!" she howled into the night.

Meeting the Challenge

I hid in the whelping den until Yellow Red returned.

She looked unharmed but surprised to see me. I can understand, I was left to guard the herd, but she seemed happy to see me none the less. She growled softly at me in a comforting way and curled back onto her cloud-thing before shushing me underneath like she used too. I understood. I needed to stay hidden.

Quietly, I snuck back underneath, keeping my alpha safe so close to Ambercrown would be my duty tonight.

I eventually fell asleep, the image of that angry cub seared into my memory. Of all the threats so far, she was the first to still possess all of her thorns and barbs. She may be small, but she had snuck up on me, shown no fear, and had managed to alert Evil of my invasion... though my howling probably could be blamed for that as well.

It was a troubled sleep that found me, but one that I sorely needed after such an active night.

I woke to the sound of Yellow Red quickly shuffling around the whelping den, a routine she had performed almost every day since I could recall. First she would groggily rise from her cloud-thing before dropping to the floor with a satisfying thunk. She would look around, a glazed expression across her diseased muzzle, before forcing her suffering to the far reaches of conciosness. Next, she would grumble softly before roaming around and yawning a few times to show her lack of concern for the efforts of Ambercrown and the Predator before pulling on a spare ruff to augment her striking mane.

I had seen the process so many times that I had just resolved to return to sleep when she suddenly used her magic to dispell the hard air and look outside. Curious, I slid out from my hiding spot and crept over to peer at her, wondering what she was about. For all her wisdom and skill, she rarely explained her motivations; relying instead upon example to teach.

Even though I had tried to be silent, her vast skill let her track me with her leaves as I approached, earning me a backwards glance and, a moment later, a gentle rise as she lifted me to show me the outside world I had followed her through the night before.

For the first time, I looked out upon the world from her magic tunnel... it was bigger than I expected. While I had looked out through the hidden den's exit many times, the whelping den's magic tunnel seemed to make the world bigger. The Unmoving, despite their number, seemed shorter and less threatening, standing in straight lines but appearing no more hazardous than the grasses that grew far below. The barrier, from here, seemed as little more than something of note rather than a thin line of Unmoving corpses. Even the sky seemed larger, as if somehow pushing the Unmoving into the soil and stealing their height for itself. It was a confusing, but heady, experience.

My alpha was showing me her world.

All too soon though, she turned and put me down, growling softly as she began to pace again. I followed quietly, determined to guard my alpha in case Ambercrown, the Predator, Evil, or that cub returned.

I still do not know what to think of the cub. It is a clear threat but, at the same time, is also the first wolf to show any true awareness outside of my pack. It stalked with intention, acted with forethought, and retreated to alert its pack. While Ambercrown and the Predator are both dangerous wolves in their own rights, they act as alphas without regard for our pack. At least the cub had the decency to retreat, showing some kind of respect.

Perhaps it can be placated?

I shouldn't worry about that though, Yellow Red will have already determined our best course of action. She is the alpha and I trust her.

Before long though, she turns to me and glances over to the cloud-thing. I know the look and, though I do not wish to leave her unguarded (especially with Ambercrown nearby), I comply - retreating to my hiding place. A moment later, she uses her magic to stalk through the side, leaving me behind.

I wait patiently, my twigs hearing activity in the den below, as I track her. Evil is there, along with Ambercrown, chattering at one another while Evil conjures her unnatural racket. Despite the painful noise, I hear Yellow Red as she approaches. I listen intently, ready to try and burrow my way to her aid as she nears our enemies, but then she suddenly barks out.... almost happily?

It is only a moment before I hear the responding barks of Ambercrown, Evil, and even the Predator, but no sounds of combat.

Tensely, I wait, time seeming to stretch and pull as I fear for the inevitable ambush. Yet, against all odds, it never comes. Instead, the scent of freshly killed buds, burning Unmoving, and other things wafts from somewhere below and the wolves all begin to growl and bark at one another.

I lay in stunned silence as it finally dawns upon me: Yellow Red has used her magic to trick them into allowing her back into the den. Somehow, my alpha has beaten not one, but all three of our greatest rivals after being routed from our own territory.

I blink slowly from my hiding space as I realize that with such power, my alpha could conquer entire packs without a single injury.

My alpha is.... whatever that is, smells delicious.

It is some time before Yellow Red returns, but when she does, she brings a flat rock with some of the smelly stuff on it. I scramble out of my hiding place, following dutifully behind as she sets it down.

Blinking, I look at her and wait, but she just watches me.

She's testing me again. She's putting something down and seeing if I'll steal it. It smells delicious but I dare not take her meal. Even so, I find my maw wanting to sample some and am forced to snap my jaws shut as I wait.

A few moments pass before she growls softly again and prods the stone with her root, eventually showing me it's alright to eat as she takes some and leaves the rest for me.

I oblige as she growls pleasantly.

It is delicious... she watches me as I eat.

It has been a few days and we are nearly back to our original habits with Dirty Sap and Whiteflower returning from their hunts from time to time. I have remained hidden in the whelping den, silent and ever watchful even though Ambercrown and the Predator should no longer pose a threat to us. Even so, Ambercrown has shown resistance to Yellow Red's magic, though it seems to be only temporary. She has burst into the den, sending me into a panicked flight to hide on two occasions. Thankfully, she has yet to see me. I fear how Yellow Red would respond were I to fail at my stalking training

Worse, even though Ambercrown, the Predator and Evil have been placated, the cub (who I have come to think of as "Second") seems entirely too focused to be tricked by Yellow Red's magic into ignoring me. Second has continued to rest just beyond the Side and has taken to barking threats at me through my alpha's magic. Second speaks a language which is familiar yet... different. I can almost understand it. Second is both curious about and furious with me... it doesn't know me, and yet Yellow Red's magic seems to have clouded its mind for it thinks I am a threat to Yellow Red.

Imagine that... me, a threat to my alpha.

Regardless, Yellow Red has continued bringing me things to eat from Evil and, while her voice and magic are wicked beyond measure, her skill at butchery is beyond even Yellow Red's. I admit, I look forward to Evil's offerings... even if they aren't meant for me.

To Bite or Bark

Yellow Red returned to the whelping den today with injuries. Her diseased muzzle was blighted and even her ruff had been fouled with brambles and soil. Instead of barking out a soft greeting when I met her at the side where her magic opens up into the rest of the den, she stalked past me and went directly to her cloud thing.

For the moment I saw Second, before my alpha's magic closed the Side, even it seemed concerned about my alpha's health.

Since she hadn't acknowledged me, I decided to wait patiently. Perhaps she must decide how best to stalk the Unmoving or defend against Ambercrown's resistance to her magics. Perhaps Evil has been secretly poisoning her. Perhaps she is growing weaker from her illness.

No, that last one cannot be. I will not let it be.

I was still pondering her actions when I heard her start to whimper. It was such a strange sound that, at first, I didn't even recognize it for what it was. I assumed that the Unmoving outside had decided to taunt us or, perhaps, Second was attempting some form of trick. Something sensible like those. But when I went to Yellow Red to see what we should do about it, I saw her curled up on her cloud thing, clutching her head and shaking slightly.

Yellow Red, the leader of our pack, capable of taming our three greatest enemies, having quelled the Unmoving armies, bearer of magics so powerful that they can build a den above the ground with the bodies of enemies slain in glorious battle.... whimpering.

I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of: I climbed onto the cloud thing and lay down next to her.

If something can hurt my alpha, I won't be much use fighting it off, but I'll be kindling before I simply let anything hurt her again without at least trying.

I refuse to fail.

This morning, before she stirred, I snuck out of the hidden place and put a few of my twigs back into my Alpha's traveling den. It may not be much, but as long as I can hear or see something, I can pretend I am scouting with my Alpha. All I have to do is remain quiet, assure her I will be hidden through the day, and let her go on her hunt as usual.

I heard Evil somewhere in the den, preparing the remains of the Unmoving as she seems to do every morning and knew it was time to hide. If Evil is awake, Ambercrown and The Predator will be shortly as well.

I scrambled back under the cloud thing, shuffling in amongst my camouflage. I knew there was little I could do until it was time, so I relaxed... and waited for Yellow Red to awaken.

It was little different than any other morning when my alpha stirred. First there was the cloud thing shifting, then one of the Unmoving corpses that held it aloft cried softly. Then the bird scream from outside and more of the Unmoving corpse's cries as Yellow Red shifted the cloud thing a bit more.

I know this game though, the bird thing will stop screaming in a moment, the Unmoving corpse will grow quiet, and Yellow Red will test me to see if I have been tricked by her cunning. I know because I was fooled enough times to know what happens next.

So I wait, relaxed, still and quiet. Yellow Red is preparing the ambush.

The only warning we will get is the whisper of Unmoving corpses in the tunnel beyond the side before Ambercrown will burst in howling and barking, Second racing past to leap onto the cloud thing. I know this part too... Second will jump around, trying to goad Yellow Red into attacking... still trying to break the spell on Ambercrown.... but it will fail. My alpha's magic is too strong. Next, Ambercrown will gently attack the cloud thing and the Unmoving corpses that hold it. Yellow Red will bark back and, after a moment, appease them enough to make them leave. Then, and only then, will she rise and prepare for the day's hunt.

I know this game, she plays it nearly every morning with them. My alpha is training them well, even if they don't realize they have been tricked into a patrol of our den. If an Unmoving had, somehow, snuck in overnight and overcome my alpha, the promise of the game would bring Ambercrown and Second to discover our plight... no doubt taking the Unmoving invader by surprise and allowing us to overcome it. If not, or if Ambercrown and Second were somehow defeated, the game has been taught to the Predator as well, though he plays only if Ambercrown is released without Yellow Red's acknowledgment.

I wait as the Unmoving whispers cease beyond the side, and when it opens, I stay perfectly still as Ambercrown and Second race in, barking and howling.

So simple.

So predictable.

And then the gentle attacking of the Unmoving holding the Cloud thing comes. They cry a bit as their corpses shake, but nothing unusual.

My alpha is playing dead well today.

Very well.

Second jumps down and Ambercrown has stopped howling. Something is wrong.

Ambercrown is not leaving and her barks are sounding softer.

And then I hear it.... my alpha is whimpering again.

Ambercrown begins to climb onto the cloud thing as she keeps barking softly.

This is bad. An alpha cannot be challenged while on the hunt, but an alpha can lose their position in the pack if they are challenged while resting or at play. Yellow Red is resting in the whelping den... she is not on the hunt yet... and Second has, no doubt, run off to tell the others still in the den.

It is a moment before I notice that Ambercrown has not finished climbing onto the cloud thing. She is propped up on it, leaning upon it, and is still barking softly while Yellow Red whimpers.

I am confused. If Ambercrown wanted to challenge for the alpha, why hasn't she? Yellow Red is resting, and is whimpering. No matter how strong or clever my alpha is, such are signs of weakness. Her disease must have been progressing for far longer than she let us know if she is so rotten that she can't face Ambercrown in her own den.

I am right about to pull myself together when I hear Ambercrown bark out loudly... the bark is one I've heard often enough to bring a dry leaf to my boughs.... she is calling for the Predator.

I cannot fight them all. I can not let them harm my alpha, but I can not defeat them all, especially not if the Predator is here. Thinking as fast as I can, I try to come up with a plan Yellow Red would be proud of. I must be cunning. I must be frightful - no, I must be terrifying. Yes! I must be terrifying enough to scare them off since I can't hope to fight them off.

I pull myself together as quietly as possible and sneak to the back side, the side most deeply hidden under the cloud thing, and start to climb the corpses of the Unmoving. It is a tight fit, one that even I have trouble relaxing through, but for my alpha, I will do it.

I can hear him, the Predator, coming - his clawless roots thumping along the tunnel with a deafening finality. Second will be back any moment, and if things go too poorly, even Evil. I have very little time as I pull my brush past the tight spot and feel the cloud thing pressed against me.

I hear the Predator very near now, Second with him, and I know I must wait for the perfect moment to spring my trap.

Second will race in, like it always does, and bound to the cloud thing. The Predator will stalk through, likely to observe, perhaps to challenge himself. Ambercrown will not go for the kill until she has witnesses to Yellow Red's weakness and inability to lead the pack. The critical moment will be after Second races in, but before the Predator has entered. I will pounce upon Second as it leaps to the cloud thing, startling Ambercrown from her strange leaning, then leap back to defend my alpha right as the Predator enters. He will see me 'defeat' Second and Ambercrown before either of them can touch my alpha, hopefully stopping his challenge. If we are lucky, Ambercrown and Second will be so startled that they may flee, and without the support of the Predator, my alpha will be safe until after the hunt at least. If the hunt goes well, and it always does, I doubt Ambercrown will challenge for a time, especially after being seen cowering from a cub.

Or, I will be struck down by Ambercrown as I leap. Even then, the Predator will witness the madness of a packmate slaughtering a cub and his dedication to the pack should force him to stop Ambercrown. I doubt he will be fast enough to save me, but by stopping Ambercrown, he will stop the challenge and Yellow Red will be safe for another day.

Either way, I must wait until Second begins to race in.

I listen as the Predator grows closer, Second's roots clacking across the Unmoving corpses.

I hear Second's charge and I start my scramble from behind the cloud thing. Time is critical and I put everything I have into the motion.

I feel something strange. There is something touching part of me that is not part of me.

A moment later, the world erupts in a terrible noise and I lose my rooting to the cloud thing just as my muzzle breaks through from the edge beside Yellow Red.

I can't move! There is another cloud thing on top of me! Yellow red is laying upon one and pinning me with the other!

NO! My alpha is trying to protect me even now! No!

My alpha needs help! I need to help! I cannot do nothing!

I hear Second.

I hear second but I do not see Second?

Ambercrown is facing away from the cloud thing as the Predator comes around the corner. He is looking down, confused.

I can hear Second, but I cannot see Second. I can see Ambercrown and the Predator, but I canno.... the traveling den! I had hidden some of my twigs in the traveling den! When I struggled to move to a pouncing position in time, I forgot about my twigs! I must have pulled them, but the den is powerful magic and I am too weak to break it, but I must have caused something to move within the traveling den.

No! I have doomed us both! I cannot surprise them now. Even if I do attack, the Predator will see my trickery and will crush me for attacking Ambercrown without a challenge. Second will know I am here before I can do anything. Ambercrown knows my alpha is weak and cannot defend herself. I've doomed us both!

I try to rouse my alpha, prodding her gently with my muzzle while they are all looking at the traveling den. If we can flee while they're distracted, we can get WhiteFlower and Dirty Sap. We can hunt and come back again. We can survive!

I nuzzle her more urgently. They won't be distracted for long. We must leave now!

Why isn't she fleeing? Why is she only whimpering?

And then, the Predator looks up.

His bark is as soft and slow as always, just as lethal and methodical as he is.

I grow still. There is no hope for us now.

I watch him approach, Ambercrown looking up a moment later and following, before he leans down and ... nuzzles Yellow Red?

She only begins to howl plaintively... my alpha.... howling like an injured cub.

The Predator stays a moment before pulling his head back and barking something at Ambercrown. A moment later, Ambercrown is nuzzling Yellow Red too.

And then Ambercrown stops and puts her muzzle right up against mine, and bites down.

I find myself being pulled out from under Yellow Red's cloud thing and held by the muzzle in the air. Ambercrown's giant deformed maw holding me tightly with her diseased thorns and barbs. This close, I can see how sick they all all.... even their muzzle barbs are blunted, as if broken off at the stem. And then she puts me down on the cloud thing with a strange look.

After a moment, she pushes me up closer to Yellow Red and barks out softly.

Yellow Red reaches out and pulls me in, her dew watering me as she whimpers and howls plaintively. I remain stock still.

Eventually the others leave, Ambercown looking back and waiting at the side for quite some time before closing the opening to the tunnel.

It is a while later when Ambercrown returns with some of Evil's food. She stays only long enough to bark out a few things softly and nuzzle Yellow Red a bit. A bit later, Yellow Red finally releases me and eats from Evil's meal. She stays close to me and barks out some things softly.

I can still see the bruising on her trunk and muzzle, her ruff and brush are still stained. She offers me some of her meal, and after assuring me it is fine, I eat. As always, Evil's food is delicious.

The day passes quietly and I find myself often being held by my alpha.

Dirty Sap and Whiteflower both appear later, but they don't stay long. They, too, look as if their diseases are progressing, though Dirty Sap's branches buzz no less strangely.

It worries me that the three strongest hunters in our pack seem so ill.

But I am amazed when I finally understand, that night, what Yellow Red has done.

She tricked us all.... everyone but Dirty Sap and Whiteflower.... she tricked the Predator, Ambercrown, and even Second, into thinking she killed me and was burying me for winter.

When they all looked away, she anticipated my pounce and pinned me down to protect me. She knew I couldn't fight them all. She knew I would be too frightened to move. She knew that they would find me, but only Second has seen me and Second was still distracted.

Somehow.... somehow she knew exactly what to do to keep them all under her spell and keep me safe.

My alpha.

My alpha is the greatest alpha.

I won't fail her.

Stalking Prey

Yellow Red did not leave the whelping den yesterday. This is something that has not happened before but, with her illness, I understand she does not wish to lose bark needlessly.

At least her magics are still just as strong as they were before. I could hear Second pacing around outside the whelping den a bit and, though it did not howl, I know it is worried too. Ambercrown and the Predator have both returned multiple times. I hid the first time Ambercrown returned but a strange thing happened: she noticed I was gone.

For the first time, Ambercrown has realized I am here. If it weren't for Yellow Red's brilliant scheme to maintain her position, I would be mortified that I failed so horrendously in my stealth training. As it is, when Ambercrown returned, she started looking around the cloud thing until she found me wedged underneath. I stayed as still as possible, trying to hide, but once she saw me there was little choice in the matter. It took her but a moment to drag me out, beat me once against the cloud thing to make sure I was properly tenderized, and then drop me next to Yellow Red.

Apparently she was satisfied that Yellow Red would not starve at that point because she barked once more softly and left.

I'm proud of my alpha for her trick, but I am not sure how to feel about being thought of as a kill.... or a snack.

The night was quiet despite Second pacing out in the tunnel behind the side. Yellow Red mostly stayed in her cloud thing, but eventually Whiteflower and Dirty Sap returned from their hunt to spend the night in the whelping den.

They must have sensed my Alpha's weakness and come to act as guards against Ambrecrown, Second and Evil. Even with us all together, I do not believe we could defend against the Predator, but we stand a better chance together than not.

Unlike most nights when we are all together, we were mostly quiet. Dirty Sap seemed to have picked up a few more scrapes and there were even a few places where her branches looked brittle... more brittle. Whiteflower, for all her skill, is simply too sun-bleached to hide her injuries. Her white bark shows off the spots where her sap must have been running very clearly.

I do not know what caught them, they still haven't recovered enough strength from their illness to speak clearly, but from their brush and bark, it must have been devastating. I would have guessed the Predator except he has been in or around the den for days.

Not to mention that if he had caught them, I doubt there would be enough left to replant.

Regardless, from the unmoving corpses that Whiteflower brought back from her hunt, it is apparent that we will likely have to rely upon Evil's cache for the night. Even though Whiteflower is the strongest hunter amongst us, her offerings were rather small today.

Perhaps the Unmoving tribe outside is becoming restless. If they learn that Yellow Red is injured, we could all be in danger.

No matter how skilled a hunter, a herd of prey can still trample and uproot you if you are caught unprepared.

For the first time, I was allowed to sleep on the cloud thing, curled up between my pack mates. Yellow Red remained near her hole in the side while Dirty Sap slunk off to the end with the upright Unmoving corpses. Whiteflower had started near the middle, but some time during the night, must have decided to scout because when I woke, she was on the ground tangled in the thin cloud thing and growling softly.

We rose with the Phoenix's eye watching us, Yellow Red and I. While the others slept, she paced around the whelping den and started to put things into the traveling den. After a while, she left through the side and came back like she always does.

I watched from the cloud thing as my alpha prepared for the hunt.

She was efficient, taking many things and snacks as she stalked around the den majestically. A few crushed Unmoving went into the traveling den followed by a few of their small yellow branches. One of their young, a bloated bud that she so favored, found its way into the den next, sealing its fate. A few more trinkets and snacks and she finally seemed ready to rouse the others.

With a yapping bark that jolted Dirty Sap clear off the cloud thing, Yellow Red called her pack to order.

Or would have if Whiteflower hadn't trapped herself in the thin cloud.

Either way, within minutes we were all ready to begin the hunt and as we started for the side, I almost made it out into the tunnel before Yellow Red turned around and pointed back at the cloud thing.

Ah... I am supposed to be dead and buried.

I had forgotten.

It was a strange thing, I realized sometime later, but being alone in the whelping den when my alpha and pack were absent left an uneasy feeling in my trunk. I could hear them, one of my twigs was still in the traveling den after all, but it was so far away that I found it uncomfortable.

The sense that I was near, yet distant, left me feeling oddly helpless. I could hear them hunting, barking softly and yapping back and forth as they herded their prey, but for the life of me, I could neither tell what they were hunting nor how well they were succeeding.

While their voices were strong, I knew my pack put up a great many bluffs, trusting in my Alpha's leadership almost as much as Whiteflower's hunting skills. I knew I could trust them all, even Dirty Sap with her strange branch leaping, but I also knew that there was little I could do if they got into trouble.

I was guarding the whelping den, pretending to be dead if Ambercrown investigated.

They were herding prey, apparently desperate enough for a fresh kill that they had decided against stealth.

I was watching the den, listening to Second beyond the Side.

They were acting together, as a pack.

I was safe, at the den, waiting.

And then they became quiet before erupting into yaps and snarls and barking that only quieted down when another voice cut through.

I waited, listening and shuddering, as they grew quiet... until only the louder voice remained.

It was a long day as the Phoenix's eye crept across the outside. I spent it under the cloud thing, tucked as far back as I could from the rest of the whelping den.

I was listening.

At first, I thought that they had been caught and perhaps eaten, but after a time... far too long... I heard Whiteflower bark softly.

I nearly broke a twig on the cloud thing as I stood up.

If Whiteflower was alive, then surely Dirty Sap and Yellow Red were as well. Whiteflower was the strongest hunter amongst us and Dirty Sap possessed those strange branches that let her leap such great distances. If any could survive such an ambush as had apparently befallen my pack, it would be my pack. After all, with Yellow Red's magic and tactics, they had probably seen the ambush and simply engaged long enough to feign death until it was safe to remove themselves.

Certainly with the sounds of battle that had briefly flooded my senses that is what had happened.

So it was with great urgency that I scrabbled up to the hole in the side to watch for their return.

A sound behind me nearly made me fall to pieces when I realized how weak my Alpha must truly be...

The magic had failed and the Tunnel was visible.

Worse, Second had stalked in and was watching me.

To Play Dead

I don't know what terrible thing must have befallen my alpha, but whatever it was was clearly requiring more of her than ever before.

The magic that kept the tunnel from the whelping den had failed, the side was open, but there was nowhere to go. Second was upon me before I could even root myself and hope to prevent the invasion. My pack would return to the den, having suffered whatever injuries they might, only to find our territory violated by Second... and likely Ambercrown next.

Ambercrown does seem the most active of the other pack, despite The Predator being the most powerful. Perhaps that is how Yellow Red has been controlling them? Tricking them with her magics to play upon each others weaknesses and strengths? Slowly working fear and distrust into their ranks until they can't help but to cede authority to her superior skills?

It is beyond me, I admit, but that is why my alpha is my alpha.

Musings aside, Second wasted no time in charging me, biting around my trunk and branches with the strength of a wolf barely feeling the illness she so clearly was afflicted with. Her bark was soft, her roots a sickly warmth, but her thorns and barbs were no less vicious. Oddly, despite her sickness, those parts of her seemed to be completely intact... in a way I simply could not hope to compete with.

Feeling my bark splinter, I threw myself from side to side, thrashing as I tried to find some way to flee, to hide, to survive Second's attack until my pack returned.

I could not fail them.

I would not fail them again.

And so I made a sacrifice to serve the pack.

I bit off my branch and let Second hurl me across the den all the way to the side.

The feeling was cold and strange, but I knew I could heal if only I had enough time. Yellow Red's magic would protect us, if only I could keep Second from damaging too much of the den. Second, despite her ferocity, seemed distracted, and it gave me the time I needed to plan.

Yellow Red would arrive wounded, but alive. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower would likely be with her. Ambercrown would arrive shortly thereafter to taunt and challenge for position as she always did, and Evil would howl her sap-chilling howl to demand her share of the kills. Between now and then, The Predator may or may not come to challenge... it was a rare thing, but one that must be accounted for. But through it all, Second was the most immediate threat. I needed to distract Second and get her out of the Whelping Den before Yellow Red returned.

If Yellow Red was too injured to show dominance, even one as lowly as Second could send us all into a fight that my pack may not survive.

Yellow Red's magic was great, but even defeating the other pack would mean nothing if the battle alerted the Unmoving Tribe to our collective weakness.

Second was tearing through my sacrificed branch. I could feel the stick breaking, feel her thorns and barbs splintering my wood, but she ~was~ distracted. I slunk along the side on three limbs as I let my roots feel out the cracks in the Unmoving corpses. Here and there, I sank tiny roots in, tearing them off as I paced, leaving little bits of me in case my plan was to fail.

I had nearly circled the den when she looked up from her vicious feast, my branch little more than slivers and splinters across the corpses. Her eyes met mine, and the growl she uttered, distorted or not, was pristinely clear.

I was near the tunnel... the side had just enough room for me to slink through if I could avoid Second.

It would be easy. Dodge the pounce, slam Second into the corpses, and flee before she could rise. I could be down the tunnel before the other pack would ever know.

But then, the whelping den would be unguarded. Yellow Red would return, injured, and unaware... walking into a trap with no way to defend herself. Dirty Sap would try to save her. Whiteflower would make a last stand. Yellow Red would dig in and root herself to the den with all the wrath of Poisonglade. And all of it would mean nothing before an ambush when they were so ill.

So, I could not flee. I would have to strike back at Second's weakened bark, sink my thorns into her trunk and shake until her stem broke and wait until my pack returned.

Of course, Ambercrown would notice. Evil would notice. The Predator would notice. Second was too much a part of their pack to not be missed.

I looked back at the tunnel and summoned every bit of memory of Yellow Red's teachings. I pushed back a root and watched as the tunnel slid away behind the side.

I blinked. If I wasn't about to die at the barbs of Second, I would have reveled in learning some small part of my alpha's magic.

And then Second was upon me.

Our battle was brutal. Second would bite and tear, shearing away bark and twig while I would thrash and dodge, fearful of drawing the other pack's ire.

By the time I heard it, I could barely stand. A whomping, pounding, banging clatter as one of them came racing to the howls and barks of Second.

Too late I realized where I was. Too late I tried to leap clear with my remaining branches. The corpse smashing tread of The Predator sent tremors through my trunk as I scrambled to find purchase on the whelping den's floor. He would be there any second.

I didn't stand a chance.

The Predator overpowered Yellow Red's magic, smashing me aside and tumbling across the den in pieces.

Second shook a severed branch in her maw and growled.

The Predator looked around, barked a few times, and then picked up a few parts of me in his muzzle... deformed briars holding me as tightly as granite grips roots. Second trotted out, my battered branch carried as a trophy as she followed.

I was scattered. Hurled and retrieved. Thrown and lost. Beaten and found time and again as the Phoenix's eye gazed from above.

Time and again, taunting the Unmoving legion as Second played with my branches and twigs... my bark wearing thin or even being pulled free in places. I felt pain. I felt sorrow. I felt loss and remorse for failing my pack yet again.

And then, in my distraction, I heard them... my pack, back in the whelping den.

Ambercrown was howling and before long Second and The Predator had left me, scattered and near death, to be as nothing but an offering to the Unmoving.

But they didn't know how clever my alpha was. She had taught me to be silent, to be stealthy. I could wait until the Unmoving were distracted, and because of Whiteflower's hunting, I had left roots to listen, to scout. Dirty Sap had taught me that staying out of reach could mean not having to fight, and I was certainly out of reach now.

I might not have come out of the battle unharmed, but I did come out of the battle.

And my pack had returned while I had distracted the ambushers.

I had not failed my pack after all.

Still, I could barely see or feel, so injured was I. The sounds from the den were muffled and the part of my eye I had lost had been ground into the corpses there. It was blurry, as sap-stained and splintered as I was, no doubt, but when I saw them, my seed would have wilted had it not already been torn free.

There was my pack, Yellow Red barely standing as they drug themselves through the den. Whiteflower could have been better named Pink, and Dirty Sap was nearly as bad off. Their bark was split in multiple places, and though they weathered it well, I knew resin would take time to dry and heal their bark.

And then, as if to add insult to injury, Ambercrown and The Predator burst in, baying and howling as they rushed Yellow Red, nearly bowling the others aside.

They were so weak, they didn't even try to save her.

And Yellow Red? Yellow Red was leaking dew, even though it hadn't rained.

Author's Note

I received an alert, informing me that someone who had been watching this story had moved it into their KIA folder... I assume that stands for "Killed in Action"... and it made me realize that it had, indeed, been a heck of a long time since an update.

Sad, because this is one of the only stories I'm working on that has been fully roughed out.

I will fix that problem.

To Slink

They continued for far too long. Braying and howling, barking and snarling. At one point, the Predator turned and nearly crushed Second before stepping around and out through the tunnel. Whiteflower and Dirty Sap stayed quiet, near the edge of the room, while the other pack swarmed and challenged.

Yellow Red weathered it well. As well as any true alpha could. She stayed quiet, silently letting their threats and promises of a bitter end slide off her. She flinched, biting down but refusing to show any more weakness than she had already and, eventually, it was enough.

The other pack left, leaving our pack for the night. Whiteflower showed her own mastery of magic and sealed the tunnel without Yellow Red's direction. Whiteflower is wise beyond her seasons.

Dirty Sap gave a few of her buzzing growls. I suppose she was trying to make sure none of the others had decided to return.

It was only when Whiteflower was returning to comfort Yellow Red that she stepped upon one of my twigs.

It was so small, and I was so scattered, that I didn't even feel it... but Yellow Red apparently heard.

In moments, she was up, loping around the den and searching everywhere I normally hide. She is a good alpha, and before long, the others seemed to notice too.

They searched and tracked and scoured the den, but eventually Yellow Red just flopped down on her brush and began to howl softly.

The others went to her, and I would have too, but I am too weak to pull myself together.

She does so much for us, she protects us and shelters us. She is our strength and our heartwood. It is not good for an alpha to howl in loss.

I hurt, for my alpha.

It is strange, being this large. I can see and hear so much, but it is so faint. I feel the dark damp and the hard cold, and even a bit of the soft green... even though it is quickly becoming the brittle brown, but it is not the same as when I was in the den or with my pack.

As the Phoenix Eye opened from its slumber, I saw my pack slowly waken.

First was Yellow Red, though she remained still. Her eyes seemed scuffed, her bark dulled. Even the bright red blossom that she keeps about her head seemed to be wilted from her night of weakness. The strange stillness continued on as Whiteflower, and eventually Dirty Sap, woke as well.

Instead of their normal prowl around the den, the three remained in a pile upon Yellow Red's cloud thing. None seemed willing to chance the other pack, choosing to remain quiet as they softly growled and yipped between one another.

I listened, there was little more I could do, as my pack comforted one another and checked for blights.

It was only when Evil began baying that they roused in spirit, perhaps reminded that they could take food from the other pack, though for how long Yellow Red's magic will hold out, I do not know.

Their battle yesterday seems to have weakened them greatly but, more troubling, it seems to have shaken my alpha's confidence.

If she can not lay her roots, there will be no hunt when the seasons change. And the dark damp feels as if it wants to become the cold hard soon.

My pack prepared the traveling den again today and left the whelping den as they always do, but slower.

Yellow Red growled and mewled softly as she sealed the tunnel from the side. Whiteflower brushed against her, though Dirty Sap only turned to look away. It is bad when even Dirty Sap remains quiet. Her branches seem to want to growl.

My twig in the traveling den followed with them, though being as spread out as I was, it was easier to listen to the strong sounds of my pack than normal.

They found Ambercrown and Evil, I think Second may have been there too, and all of them growled out their greetings.

Second, if she were there, was quiet.

When Ambercrown barked out a challenge, my pack was quiet.

Ambercrown barked again, more loudly, and seemed to be looking for a fight when they didn't answer but, surprisingly, Evil growled herself.

There were sounds of eating, but eventually things became quiet again until Ambercrown softly snuffled something and Yellow Red barked out pitifully.

I don't know what she said, but I recognized my name, and Ambercrown barked back softly after a while.

Eventually I heard Second whine and Ambercrown even sounded like she withdrew her challenge.

I felt them leaving the den, Ambercrown with them, as they started their hunt. My pack seemed more ill than normal and it was likely only because of Yellow Red's magic that Ambercrown had agreed to help them.

Even so, a bit later, once I could only hear them from my twig in the traveling den, Ambercrown left them to hunt on her own. I could hear my pack barking and growling softly between themselves until they set about their hunt again.

It was strange, though less than it had been before being torn apart, to listen to my pack without being able to do anything.

I wasn't in the den anymore, not really, only tiny little roots and broken shoots were there, and I wasn't really with them either. I felt the Unmoving around me, an endless swarm of them... tall and powerful, silent and unflinching.

For not the first time, I felt a bit of fear just being surrounded by their numbers.

And then I heard the racket of whatever my pack had decided to stalk. A roar of barks, yaps, yips, and howls, all of them straining to be louder and more energetic than the others. The sound of wood on wood, of root and stone colliding... I could not hope to guess what it was my alpha had deemed must feed us. It sounded like whatever battle they had come from yesterday.

And above it all, that singular howl that made all the others become silent.

It must surely be a terrible wolf to make them all become still.

Well, all but two that growled and chittered softly. I doubt even my alpha heard them.

My pack returned, battered again.

For some days, Yellow Red has been quiet; sometimes Whiteflower will return with her, other times, Dirty Sap. Some days she simply comes back alone.

Ambercrown is clearly becoming agitated. She growls and snarls occasionally while wandering the herd of the Unmoving. She doesn't seem to know I can hear her.

None of them do.

Evil sleeps most often, but even she has been more apt to screech since my alpha's injuries became more obvious. Perhaps they believe the blight might spread to them. What a sorry thing, to not even know you are already afflicted. This sickness is truly unnatural.

Even the Predator is more hasty in his demands of the Unmoving. His threats have become more forceful... his demands more cruel.

I can hardly blame the Unmoving for their resentment at this point. While hunting is a part of the wild... a part of life, what he is demanding is nothing less than the Unmoving relinquishing all of their young for his due.

If they weren't so tough, I would think they might rebel at their treatment. As it stands, they are only growing more angry - they've darkened their leaves again.

And yet, I have been unable to so much as move a single one of my twigs to warn my pack. If nothing changes, I may become a silent witness to their massacre.

The Phoenix Eye woke today, but the sky, without Yellow Red's magic, consumed it wholly. Clouds choked out the sun and even Second fled from the dark.

I could not flee, and so I was forced to wait for the sky's anger.

And then it came, the cold wet. The sky brought the cold wet and I felt it break and wash the parts of me I had begun to forget.

It was wet. Wet that I desperately missed. That I hadn't even known I had missed.

The dry dark became the damp dark again! And then the wet dark!

I drank, oh how I drank, and somewhere I began to feel my roots sinking in again.

I have missed my damp dark, but my wet dark is something I will seek.

The sky brought wet for most of the day, only giving back the sun when the ground was about to swallow it up again.

I saw my alpha, alone again, as she wandered her territory, but I lost sight of her until she returned to the den when Ambercrown began howling.

Even so, in the fading light of the Phoenix Eye, I felt a little stronger.

Tomorrow I will try again. I cannot leave my alpha without her pack.

Yellow Red has gone off to hunt. Ambercrown has gone off to hunt. The Predator is far away, somewhere in the herd of Unmoving, and Evil is resting in the den.

I lay, in so many pieces, soaking in the dark damp and the light of the Phoenix Eye. Something was different. Something was good. It felt as if I had been hunting, as if I had caught and eaten a number of the bloated bulbs of the Unmoving. Somehow, Yellow Red's magic must be feeding me even now.

I will use this strength. I will guard my pack.

I had pulled and strained, twisted and tugged with every root and leaf I still had. I had sent new, weak, little fibers into the damp dark, and even these I pulled free to struggle. And a struggle it was.

I have not found all of me, but there is enough that i can move.

I will find the rest of me and I will guard my pack until they are healed again. The other pack does not know I am back.

Whiteflower taught me to keep them unaware, Yellow Red, to be stealthy. I will not fail this time. I will stalk the Unmoving and keep them from acting.

They may fear the Predator, but he cannot be everywhere at once. I will keep them weak where he cannot.

And yet, even now I have been seen. Second has been watching me from the den... through one of the holes in Yellow Red's magic.

I cannot return there, then. Second will surely tell her pack.

But I know where I can make a den for myself. It is close enough to watch my pack, but far enough to keep Second from alerting the others. I may have returned, but I cannot fight them all on my own... especially with my alpha so weak.

I will go there, to our den in the Unmoving herd, where so many wonderful things were learned and so many bulbs slaughtered.

After all, they would never seek out our old, secret, den.

Taproot

I have slunk and snuck and hidden and stealthed and ... other things that I have done to not be seen. The night is good for these things and, more importantly, I have not been followed by Second.

The hidden den remains undisturbed. Colder, darker, but untouched by the other pack or the Unmoving tribe.

I cannot expect my alpha to strain herself more just to secret food for me. My pack weakens, but I will not be the source of further strain.

If they cannot hunt, then I shall hunt for them.

Yesterday, I watched as Yellow Red crept out of the den and waited with Ambercrown just outside the barrier. I bristled seeing Ambercrown standing over her, almost preening with contempt for my alpha's weakness. Were I strong enough, I would have challenged her right then, but... I am not.

Not yet.

Even so, I watched to make sure she wouldn't try anything. After her display a few days ago, I cannot trust that Yellow Red's magic is as complete as it once was. It... leaks... and some of the others seem to be slowly breaking from her magics.

Still, I felt some relief when I saw Whiteflower and Dirty Sap come trotting up to the two, displaying no fear whatsoever. I am proud of them. Even when our alpha is so weakened, they were willing to bluff their way right up to Ambercrown... fearless as if she were no more dangerous than a random bud.

I watched until I was sure they had left Ambercrown's sight... then long enough to make sure she wouldn't follow them. She may be a wolf of unusual strength, but I cannot trust her to follow the chain of authority in our pack. She has already shown her vicious and traitorous nature and I won't have her hunting my pack just to 'find' them all dead later.

Thankfully, she went out to stalk the Unmoving.

Our Unmoving.

And so, my day began.

If she was going to steal from our pack, I was going to take from hers.

I followed her, creeping through the brush and hiding in the grasses. Following her with all the stealth and tricks that Yellow Red and Whiteflower had taught me.

I stayed low. I stayed quiet. I hid when there were open places and I relaxed when she lingered too long in a glance about her.

More than once, I fell to pieces just in time to avoid being seen.

She was a skilled hunter, no doubt having skills learned over a long and brutal life, but she was a coward and a brute, two things that my pack will always be able to overcome.

While she 'hunted' the Unmoving, all she truly did was threaten them and beat them into submission. She would growl at them softly, making clear her intent and the promises of harm if they refused. Then she would spin on a claw and strike before they could so much as drop a branch in defense.

I watched as she ate their young, smiling the whole time while her victims stoicly remained standing... too cowed to resist.

It was disgusting.

All this, and more, she did. Time after time. Slowly stalking the herd like some dark blight, culling their young and leaving nothing but weeping trees in her wake.

She was even worse though.... she refused to even kill the buds, instead choosing to take only one or two lives and dragging the others away in strange things made of more Unmoving corpses.

Cruel beyond words.... but I followed her nonetheless. If she had become this powerful, powerful enough to resist my alpha, she must have a secret.

I was glad I followed her. After most of the day, she collected her ill-gotten spoils and piled them all into a huge thing and begun dragging them away. It was even more difficult to follow with her speed, but I refused to lose sight of her.

Finally, just as she looked to be prepared to return to the den, she used some of her own magic and opened another tunnel outside of the den!

Into the darkness she went, time and again, dragging the young bloated Unmoving from the light of the Phoenix Eye and into the dark of the place beneath.

I watched and I waited.

And when she had taken the final bunch inside, come back up, closed the tunnel, and left, I slunk over and tried my claws at the magic I had learned from Yellow Red.

And the tunnel opened into the darkness of the place beneath.

It was dark, dark enough that I had to brighten my eyes, but when I was certain I was alone, I crept down into the beneath and what I found made me wonder how wicked Ambercrown truly was.

Hidden away, secreted from even her own pack, Ambercrown had stashed hundreds... hundreds of hundreds of hundreds of the Unmoving.

There were too many to take, too many to make any kind of noticeable loss, simply too many of the Unmoving buds to do anything with.

I couldn't bury them all.

I could hide them all.

And there was simply no possible way to end them all.

Ambercrown's deception was simply beyond anything I could imagine.

I might not like her pack, and I certainly couldn't feel secure around them, but a pack is a pack. You give to your pack and your pack gives to you. A pack works together to survive... to flourish and take root. If one steals, the others suffer. When Yellow Red couldn't give me dark damp, she gave me buds. When Whiteflower didn't find enough of the Unmoving Corpses, Yellow Red made sure to bring more of Evil's stash to feed us all. If Dirty Sap couldn't.... well, Dirty Sap did something, I'm sure, I just don't know what it is. But whatever it is, if she couldn't do it, we would help her.

That is what a pack does.

But Ambercrown... Ambercrown was willing to starve not only us, but her own pack.

I decided if I couldn't cripple them all, I would take the best, the most precious, the most deliciously tempting buds, and leave her with an aching pith that she would have to fill some other way.

It was only fair... these were our Unmoving that she was stealing from.

And so I prowled the place beneath and sniffed out the most delectable among them.

Ambercrown, for all her trickery, had remarkably good taste.

I found them, piled and kept separately, huddled in a corner in thing after thing, a towering mass of strangely colored buds that smelled of wet and hot and bright and something else. As I approached them, I felt a thrum, a positive crawl that raced along my branches and twigs, a feeling of something wholly other.

And when I stole the first, it was as if the den had shaken.

I could see the buds, their waiting sprouts and roots. I could smell their leaves, curled in their tiny stems. I felt the sweet bitterness of their cores and I loved every moment of it.

And I couldn't stop with just one.

The first was gone before I had even noticed it. The second and third, a moment later. Soon, the pile had lost enough that one side slid and fell to the ground, the buds fleeing in terror before me.

I watched as they scattered, watched as they cut glowing trails through the dark of the place beneath, and watched as they came to rest at my claws.

I don't know how many I ate, but when I left the place beneath, I knew that Ambercrown would know something had found her cache.

I hoped she would lose sleep wondering if it were the Predator.

As much as it frustrated me, I knew I could do little to destroy Ambercrown's cache... it was just too large. Surely, I could foul the buds, but that would bring little good amongst all the harm. Food was food, no matter how it was obtained. When food was wasted, it was still a waste.

So I had left the place beneath, raising my leg to dust the tunnel, and slunk out into the night. I planned to make a lap of our territory, our herd, and return to the hidden den, secure in the knowledge that the Unmoving would not rise against us this night. And yet, as I passed a line of the Unmoving, I saw something strange... a glow coming from the ground.

A moss? A fungus? Some kind of insect that I might give to my alpha to reignite her magics? I didn't know, but the closer I got, the greater my need to find it.

I had an... urge, a want for it, whatever it was, and when I was finally within a length or two of it, I knew it had to be magic.

The ground was glowing, but nothing on the ground itself. The faint light seemed to be seeping up from the dark beneath, coming up in faint wafts of tantalizing spores and fragrance. I could almost taste it, almost hear the sinking roots and feel the leaves unfurling from the glow.

I had to have it.

And so I dug.

My roots tore through the dark damp, scraped over the hard cold, and pulled up the bits and pieces of the Unmoving that had sought it out. I dug with the need of the wet dark on a hot day in the long dry. I dug with the need of the cold after the phoenix brought the fires.

And then, I had it.

It was a thing, a tiny little thing, no larger than one of my barbs, but it glowed with the light of cloud lights and tasted as the lifeblood of the Unmoving.

I couldn't help it. I ate it, and I loved it.

Something had been missing. Something terrible and wonderful and entirely needed. Something that was just so, and could be no other way, and had been forgotten and had returned.

And as I looked around in the dark of the night, in the unending herd of our pack's Unmoving, I saw other places where the ground glowed faintly. I charged off to find them.

If I could feel this good from one small sliver, what might my pack feel if I could bring them the rest.

I spent most of the night stalking the slivers and chips in the ground, and by dawn, I had amassed a small pile that I dutifully carried in my mouth.

It was a constant temptation, a fight not to simply swallow the feast, but I knew my pack needed them more than me.

I chased them around the herd, finding them hiding, always under the leaves or in shallow graves only claw deep, but I found them.

And by dawn, the glow faded until I could barely even see it.

But when I came to the stone pile, I stopped.

Here, the ground did not just glow; it blazed. If the moon was to the phoenix eye, so were my slivers to the stone pile.

Even in the light of the dawn, I could see the brilliant searing gleam of the feast upon and beneath the ground. Here, they were no slivers, they were logs and trunks as thick as the Predator's own. The amount here could surely have cured my alpha, if not my entire pack, and i almost spat out the feast in my muzzle to claim a log instead.

But...

I... couldn't.

As much as I wanted to, as much as I could see the feast before me, I could not push myself to cross that patch of barren ground.

Grasses waved. The scattering of the nearby Unmoving taunted me. The blue of the sky and the fresh breeze of the field promised great things. And yet, I knew that this place was not safe for me.

No matter how peaceful, no matter how pleasant or tempting, something howled at me with the ferocity of the dire packs themselves, that if I were to tread there, a blight and rot would be upon my heartwood before I could hope to seed.

I knew forbidden soil.

And so I returned to the den, our pack's den, and placed the feast near where Yellow Red's magic sky hole was, and ran back to the herd to remain hidden.

And as I looked back, I saw the watchful gaze of Second from the sky hole... the only witness to my return.

I will have to be more careful. She could still warn them and she may know of Ambercrown's treachery.

Graft

It has been two days since I pulled myself back together and found the first of the brown things.

Two days since I started to hunt on my own, to patrol our territory and our herd of the Unmoving.

The air is growing colder and the Unmoving have made their discontent all too obvious. Where once they were a vibrant green, and later in their angery reds and yellows, they have since decided to drop even the appearance of civility and have thrown their leaves to the ground in loathing.

They now claw at the sky and clatter with the wind. They have had all of their buds taken by Ambercrown or The Predator. I cannot say I would not do the same in their place.

If all their buds are stolen, they cannot have seedlings and, later, saplings. And without saplings, their herd is doomed to stagnate.

Ambercrown is truly a wicked creature. I would hardly even call her a wolf at this point.

Despite all that, I have been watching my pack, always from afar, hidden in the herd of the Unmoving. For the last two days I have watched as they went off to their hunt, always followed by Ambercrown. For the past two days, I have listened as they fought time and again, only to hear the Voice reign supreme, even amidst other packs. And for the past two days, I have followed, slowly, until I finally found the end of the herd.

I dare not leave our territory though. Despite how injured and weak my packmates are, they are still stronger than me. If they are returning battered and bruised, with cracked bark and broken twigs in their bushes, I fear how I might fare in their place.

I cannot risk going back to the whelping den... if Ambercrown were to see me, there is no telling what she might do to Yellow Red. Feigning a kill is no less a crime than to steal from the pack. No, for now, I will patrol the herd and make sure that they can return to recover.

It is the least I can do. It is also the most.

I was stalking the Unmoving today when I heard something that made me freeze.

There was a barking, a barking I knew.

I spun around and bristled. Yellow Red can not protect me now. Not only does the other pack believe me dead but my Alpha is far too far away to be of any help.

No, I must protect the herd myself.

I quickly dug down in the cold damp and pulled up one of the dead buds I had buried there. Taking a moment to consider my opponent, I decided upon the direct approach.

When Second came bounding through the herd, bellowing her challenges, I bristled further and growled back, the bud held gently in my maw.

Seeing me must have startled Second, because she skidded to a halt.

I took the opportunity to bite down upon the bud, slicing it into shreds with my barbs and thorns. Holding Second's gaze, I proceeded to devour the helpless thing, savoring every moment as I imagined what must be going through Second's mind.

And when I was done, I growled again.

Surprisingly, Second growled back, determined, even if clearly unsettled.

We stared at each other, trading threats and promises until it seemed all that was left to do was tear each other apart.

And yet, just when it seemed that we were about to commence our battle, the branch shaking howl of Ambercrown came from somewhere in the herd.

We stared at each other, neither willing to relent, until Ambercrown howled again and Second's leaves flicked back, tracking the sound.

I knew I had won.

Well, not won so much as not lost.

If Ambercrown was howling, Second would have to respond. No one would come howling for me, so I could pursue our threats.

It was a moment where we both came to understand our packs a bit better.

I remembered my Alpha; strong and determined, even while ailing and succumbing to her blight. I remembered Whiteflower and Dirty Sap, tenacious and fearless as they were. I remembered the strength of our lessons and the power of my Alpha's magic.

And Second? Second remembered that Ambercrown wanted her return.

NOW.

So, with a brief whine, Second took a few halting steps backwards before turning upon her brush and darting away.

I blinked. I had won. I had defended the herd. I had beaten Second.

And, for some reason, Second seemed smaller when I thought back on it.

I continued to prowl our herd, watchful for interlopers and determined to ensure Yellow Red's return would be the best that it could be. After all, having bested Second meant that I was stronger and more powerful, perhaps even able to help the pack more directly now. If I could defeat Second, then I could potentially guard the whelping den, freeing Yellow Red to hunt or patrol on her own. My Alpha could get fresher kills, more potent food, and possibly even begin to recover from her ailment. My growing stronger meant we had a new chance to reclaim our territory.

It also meant that I could return to my pack.

With these thoughts, I stalked the herd even more diligently, striving to root out any further dissension in the Unmoving and safeguard what little remained of our hunting grounds that were not frequented by Ambercrown and the Predator.

And yet, right after checking upon the hidden den, I came across Ambercrown as she prowled on her own. She was stalking through the herd, bold as a seedling and fearless as the Predator. And yet... she wasn't hunting.

I watched her, using all of my stealth training honed in the whelping den over weeks of Yellow Red's care, strained my senses and stilled my brush from its anxious twitching. I watched and studied her as she alternately crept around or trotted off only to slow and prowl again.

Time and time again she would do this, trotting along and then dropping her muzzle to the ground as if stalking some elusive prey... only to repeat the process.

Finally, having had to follow quite a distance behind her so as to avoid making myself known, I discovered what she was doing. She was searching for all the remains of the buds I had been burying.

Why? I do not know, but she seemed to be able to find them.

I shall have to be more careful with my meals. If she suspects another wolf in 'her' territory, she may well start to hunt for me herself. I will sleep further from the den tonight... perhaps the rock pile?

I did not sleep at the rock pile.

The place is dangerous. I do not know how or why, but even approaching it sends me to my stump and makes it difficult to move.

Instead, I slept at the furthest edge of the barrier, watching the herd.

And this morning, I awoke to find Second looking at me.

I quickly spung to my paws, thorns and barbs bared, and growled with as much threat as I could muster.

Second, appropriately, bounded back, but did not flee. Instead, she lowered herself into a half crouch, ready to spring, and bared her own barbs and thorns.

The two of us growled and threatened, bristling and promising painful death as we felt each other out.

She was healthy, for being as diseased as she was, and bore no lack of thorns or barbs. Indeed, she still maintained the only full set between our two packs, other than my own. She seemed quick, nimbly stalking around as I did the same. She seemed alert and aware, all too intent and capable of violence. Her brush, for being as fine as it was, appeared full and sturdy. Even her eyes were clear... if oddly dark and wet looking.

But among all of them, she bore the most clear signs of health and clarity. She alone had shaken off Yellow Red's magic... had taken to seeking me out despite my 'death'. She was fast and light, intent and willful. Even her bark had close to the proper color... a reddish brown so unlike the bright splashes of our packs' blighted bark.

If I didn't know better, I would almost believe her to be the only other wolf in our territory.

We circled, growling and bristling, posturing and sizing each other up until she, abruptly, sat down and quirked her head.

It was such a strange thing that I wasn't sure what to do.

For a few moments, neither one of us moved; she doing whatever it was she was doing, and I too confused to respond.

But, eventually, she tilted her head again the other way, and barked softly.

We looked at each other for a few more moments, until she barked again.

One odd thing, I can handle. Two, I can work with.

But three? And her not even seeming to be threatening me anymore? It was too much.

I slowly sat down, stilling my brush and watched her for any signs of deception.

We stayed that way for some time, watching each other, waiting, silently studying our opponent until she finally looked back, over her back and turned away.

FINALLY! A break in her concentration! I had just tensed my trunk for a killing leap when she turned back around with a branch of one of the Unmoving in her mouth.

It was the first time I had seen Second present evidence of her hunting prowess.

I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me... they did have to eat after all, and Ambercrown and the Predator seemed all too fond of the buds. It just made sense that there must be a wolf amongst them that was capable of hunting the Unmoving themselves. I had just assumed that it would be the Predator... given his size.

But, instead of threatening me with her trophy, she... dropped it, and pushed it towards me with her muzzle.

... and after a bit of time, I found myself chasing Second around, or her chasing me.

Which seemed entirely sensible at the time.

Until Ambercrown's howl broke through the herd and Second stopped her game with a tumble before racing off with a bark.

I'm... not certain what just happened, but I think Second might have just been trying to tell me that she's willing to help our pack.

...

And I'm not sure... but... when I think about it, I don't think she ever really meant to hurt my Alpha in the past either.

My Alpha is incredible. Even as weak as she is, she's managed to adopt Second without Ambercrown ever realizing what she's done.

Broken Branches

It has been a day or two since Second has stopped hunting me. It is a strange thing, this wolf, for even weakened, she races and leaps as if well. My Alpha's magic must have finally caught up with her though. She only growls and barks in greeting or play.

Ambercrown still roams, but I have grown wiser. Whenever near, I relax, coming apart, and have taken up the nights by sleeping in the pile of the Unmoving near the den. It is a grande and terrible show of power to leave such corpses out and obvious, though I can only assume my Alpha has done so in hopes to staving off other predators.

As if our massive herd and the den itself aren't enough.

Still, Second has been coming to find me much more. Often, she will race around barking and yapping before slowing to sniff the ground. It is obvious she is a weak hunter... she cannot seem to track me at all and I have sometimes watched her until she wanders close enough to touch. Even so, I have waited until she has fled before coming together and stalking her.

It would not do to let her know all of our pack's tricks. If she resisted my Alpha's magic this long, she might yet break free like Ambercrown and The Predator did before.

Another strange thing. While my pack was out hunting again, I listened through my twig and continued to hear the others, constantly barking and yapping and whining and especially the loud one that silences the others. I have listened so that I would know if I needed to help, even if they do not know I am still alive.

If I have learned stealth enough to trick my pack, surely I can hunt our tormentors. Yellow Red may still be weak from her illness, Dirtysap and Whiteflower may still be soft and fragile, but if I can stop these other wolves, if I can push them back out of our territory, perhaps my pack can rest enough to recover. I can hunt now, on my own... I would hunt to provide for them all. I would even give them all my kills, if they would just recover.

Today I learned something of my Alpha's magic. While I do not know yet what it does, or even how I learned it, I know it is important.

I was listening to the other wolves through my twig while Second was off hunting with Ambercrown when I suddenly realized that I heard Yellow Red growling. I also heard the Loud One. There were others, but I was so confused that I nearly fell down from the pile of Unmoving near the hidden tunnel.

Yellow Red would growl, then the Loud One would growl or bark. Then Yellow Red, and then the Loud One again.

Back and forth, sometimes other wolves, but always going back to the Loud One in between.

Still, I couldn't figure out why it had caught my attention. They were just growling or yipping, like they always did when they weren't fighting wherever they were.

And then, Second came racing by, barking about the pests in the herd.

She was going on and on and on and I finally couldn't stand it. I was listening to my Alpha! Why couldn't Second understand that?

And then I understood... just before I had pulled myself together to howl at Second.

I understood some of what Yellow Red was barking.

And then I realized, I knew what Second was barking about: the small pest had run up one of the Unmoving... and Second had wanted to catch it.

I am beginning to understand them. My Alpha is still strong enough to help me understand even when she thinks I am dead.

My pack came back today from the hunt, but my Alpha was not stalking well. Dirty Sap and White Flower were doing their best to help Yellow Red, but no amount of bluffing could hide her injured root.

Even from the pile I could see the wood was cracked and leaking a bit of sap.

They wandered up the trail until they came to the barrier before letting her try to show her health by going alone. Never show weakness before a competitor or enemy. Even when injured, my Alpha put on a strong face to intimidate and enforce her position.

So while Dirty Sap and White Flower watched, Yellow Red tried to appear unharmed as she came to the den.

She was doing so well until a brazen Unmoving sent a root to strike her, right on her cracked root, and caused her to yelp.

In an instant, the bluff was over. Yellow Red fell to the ground, dew falling from her face as fresh sap seeped from her root.

She needed to be quiet, to slink away and pretend to be healthy. She needed to put on a fierce face, to intimidate and cow her enemies. She needed to be strong to defend herself.

But her injuries and her illness were too great to overcome, and she howled before she could contain herself.

I had just started to pull myself together, to reveal my life, all in hopes of protecting my Alpha, when the Predator came racing out from the herd.

Not a moment later, Ambercrown was there too, loping along and baying at Yellow Red and Evil.

Second was there before either of them, but only whined when she sniffed my Alpha's root.

I didn't understand why Dirty Sap and White Flower didn't even try to defend her. They just barked out at her and came over, but didn't try to stop the others.

Betrayal! From within the pack itself!

But.... but Ambercrown didn't pounce. And the Predator? The Predator came to a stop nearby, but didn't attack either.

Evil pushed through them both and I could almost hear her branches and vines ripping as she moved, but she only went to sniff and yip at Yellow Red.

Soon enough the other pack was barking and yipping back and forth with Dirty Sap, White Flower, and Yellow Red.

And, after I calmed down from the fear of losing my Alpha, I began to understand.

Yellow Red had 'fallen'... and her root had been 'cracked' on a 'rock.'

I could tell from how Dirty Sap and White Flower barked that they were bluffing. But, even so, after a time, Ambercrown took Yellow Red back into the den, Evil and the Predator following after sending Dirty Sap and White Flower off to hunt again.

They didn't seem angry anymore, the other pack, but even so, my pack seemed worried.

A new wolf arrived today. This one was taller than Ambercrown, though thin and having a very large brush. His muzzle was clean and his eyes soft yet old and the color of the sky. He had a single long green leaf from his neck but was otherwise just the color of bark and mud.

Even though he seemed harmless, there was something about him, about how he moved that warned me to stay hidden. It was like looking at one of the older Unmoving... motionless but just waiting for the right moment to hurl their branches and crush you in your sleep.

Still, Ambercrown met him at the barrier and, after they barked and snorted a bit, she led him in.

I listened and waited. I couldn't see inside the den anymore... the last of my bits and pieces had all been cast out except my twig in the traveling den. Yet, I listened and listened carefully.

After a bit, I heard the new wolf near my Alpha. My bristles and barbs were set... no wolf, especially a strange invader, should be near my Alpha when she was injured.

But, I listened and when I heard Yellow Red whimpering and yipping back and forth with him, I decided to wait.

After a time, the new wolf left, quietly barking to Ambercrown and Evil before doing so.

I do not know what this "Diamond Tiara" or "Silver Spoon" is, but Ambercrown seemed more than angry when it was said.

I remember Dirty Sap and White Flower saying 'it' was 'Diamond Tiara' and 'Silver Spoon'. I remember Yellow Red leaking dew.... crying. I remember my pack saying they 'couldn't do anything.'

I remember Ambercrown saying 'Diamond and Silver' and Yellow Red saying 'rock'...

I remember Yellow Red said 'rock' when she fell down.

I remember her root was already cracked before the 'rock.'

The Predator took Yellow Red away from the den and back towards the trail when the new wolf left, carrying my Alpha on his back. Ambercrown and Evil watched them go.

Ambercrown looked angry. She kept bristling her brush and flicking her leaves and looking back the way the Predator and Yellow Red had gone. It was like she wanted to hunt but knew she couldn't. Maybe Yellow Red's magic was keeping her in our territory, near the herd. Maybe she wanted to eat the other wolf. Maybe she wanted to eat the Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

She didn't. She went back to the den and the smell of Evil's meal took over the night.

And then Second snuck up on me and asked me to help... because she couldn't leave 'our' territory.

To Appear Healthy

The Predator returned late last night, Yellow Red sprawled atop him and bound in wide white-ish leaves. Though I remained hidden, he must have sensed me since he stopped just outside the barrier. He seemed almost fearful of crossing it for some reason.

Maybe he was wondering if Yellow Red's magic would keep him out since he had run off with her. But whatever it was, I couldn't tell. He rarely expressed himself other than by being frightfully large.

I was preparing to come out of hiding, to try to steal my Alpha back, when he finally lowered his head and walked past. Even his stride seemed off, but he didn't slow once he was within the barrier.

It has been several days since Yellow Red's return, and she has remained within the den the entire time. The other pack has been prowling relentlessly, though they still go to patrol our herd. Evil, especially, has been gauging our alpha's health, no doubt looking for further signs of weakness... yet, even in her weakened state, my alpha's magic has kept them all from attacking.

Her magic is truly remarkable.

Dirty Sap and Whiteflower have both continued to hunt, despite our alpha's injuries. They continue to feign ignorance of the danger her injuries pose to the pack, but I can tell they know things are becoming worse.

Second is clearly concerned, though she plays it off well. The other pack doesn't seem to realize that she's changed sides. All the better for us. Even with her being small and ill, every member of the pack pulls their weight. If we didn't, we'd just become more splinters for stronger packs to consume.

The time has come. Yellow Red has exerted herself again, pushing herself to assure us all that she is healthy and strong. I watched her from the sky tunnel as she stalked around the whelping den. She has wrapped her cracked root in more of those long white leaves and used a discarded vine to keep them in place. If one were to look quickly, she might even be mistaken for healthy.

But I know better. I can see when she prowls that her root wants to split. She favors it, even if she doesn't want others to know.

And even still, when the Predator came to test her, she bested him in a challenge of wits. The two growled and barked back and forth until Yellow Red 'assured' him that "Ah'm fine," whatever that means.

Probably more of her strange and powerful magic.

Even so, it seemed to take longer to affect him than it used to. Perhaps in her weakened state, her injuries are draining her magic more than she knows. I shall have to be considerably more alert, in case she overexerts herself.

Even if they still think me dead, I refuse to let the pack be harmed.

... more than it already is.

With the waking of the Phoenix Eye, Yellow Red tested her root and seemed to make a decision. She howled out for the other pack and within a few moments, Ambercrown had appeared.

Ambercrown still seems too strong to be fully under Yellow Red's control, but despite her resistance, Yellow Red was allowed to leave the whelping den.

It is strange to see the other pack acting as they are. One moment, they are growling and barking, howling and yipping challenges back and forth, and the next, they are calmly prowling the den, wandering off or rejoining as if nothing is wrong.

I can't tell if they've just been under her spell so long that they don't realize how hurt she is or if she is simply that good at acting that they assume her injury to be a test of some sort.

Watching my alpha is sometimes very confusing.

Regardless, today she decided to resuming hunting again, and appropriately was escorted to the barrier by both Ambercrown and the Predator. Evil remained at the den, though she watched far more intently than anything her age should be able to.

At the edge of our territory, Whiteflower and Dirty Sap had been waiting and, after a brief exchange of growls and barks, our pack continued on as Ambercrown and the Predator watched.

They continue to be worrisome. Even while under her thrall, I could see Ambercrown straining against it, desperately wanting to follow along and hunt.

And that's what it was. She WANTED to hunt. There was something that she WANTED to do, but she wasn't able to do so. She desperately wanted to do something, but something was keeping her from it and she was railing against it. I could see the tiny needles on her back rising, watched the snapping of her brush and the bitter set of her muzzle. It was plain as the leaves on her head that she wanted to hunt something but knew she wasn't allowed to and it was making her strain to stay where she'd been told.

The Predator was not much better, though he hid it well. The cords of his back were tight and his massive roots ground into the dark damp through the cool green and rough brown.

Still, they stayed until the pack had crested the hill before turning back towards the den.

Second followed, though she looked back at me before running off with the other pack.

I knew what I had to do, and so I left our territory and raced after our pack.

It did not take long to find them.

Dirty Sap and Whiteflower had taken up positions on either side of Yellow Red and were quietly yipping and barking back and forth. The blossom atop Yellow Red's head was looking as vibrant as ever, a clear sign that she was intending to intimidate any challengers rather than fight them outright. My alpha is clever enough to know that fighting while injured is a bad tactic.

I followed from a distance, stalking as I have learned, hiding in dips or tucking myself into brush. Sometimes I simply came apart to keep them from seeing me. They have enough trouble without having to worry about taking care of me. Besides, I have been caring for the herd while Yellow Red has been injured. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower have been too busy hunting to properly cow the Unmoving. Such is our state.

But at least they have taught me well enough that our pack has persisted. As the days grow shorter, I can almost feel the Creeping Cold stalking us, leading the Frozen Death in its blindness. If we do not prepare soon, we may not survive. I am glad I know where the proof of Ambercrown's treachery is, with that store, we should have enough to evade the Frozen Death.

Still, I must watch them before we prepare. If we splinter and rot before the Frozen Death, it will not matter if we have food enough to last.

So I follow.

They prowled, slowly, for quite some time, passing sentinels of the Unmoving. Some were aging, while others spy young sprouts. Some were sleeping while others rattled their threats and warnings amid brightly tinted leaves or clamorous branches. A few of the Evergreen stood proud, too powerful to even concern themselves with out passing.

The Evergreen. Somehow I knew not to threaten the Evergreen. Unmoving they may be, but their magic is immense, possibly even stronger than Yellow Red's. They stand against all things, unmoving among even the Unmoving.

But here, they are few in number and seem unconcerned in our matters. Perhaps my alpha is even their master, though I doubt it.

Eventually though, we came to a place of strange growths. The soft green and rough brown gave way to the hard grey and the small hards. Hiding between the soft greens and the others, littlings crawled and fled before us. Tiny pests though they may be, seeing them flee before my alpha was still satisfying.

Barriers littered the ground, leaving the hard grey and small hards to pass, but keeping the soft green apart from the softer greens. My alpha cared not for them, instead following the hard grey and small hards until she came to another, smaller, den.

This den was like the buds of the Unmoving in our herd. Bright with the blush of life, but caged in the color of bone. Atop it sat a frown that howled, causing my pack to run, albeit slowly, into the den with a swarm of other small packs.

I nearly leapt to aid them before hearing the mix of yips and yaps that spoke not of war, but of joy and frustration. And then The Voice.

At hearing The Voice, their racket fell, and into a soft howl they replied.

It was a very confusing thing to hear but, the immediate danger passed, so I settled myself into the shadow of a bush, hidden in the shade of an Unmoving.

For good measure, I dusted it, to remind it to whom it belonged. I'm certain my alpha will be proud.

The Voice is insidious. It is soft but forceful and gentle but full of warning. When it howls, I can feel my barbs clench and my thorns catch. It is a master of what it is, whatever that is.

And my alpha comes willingly to listen.

My alpha is wise. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower are clever, if not wise.

But when the Voice yipped the last time, the packs inside the den all howled and fled.

I shook myself off and prepared for fighting, but when they darted out, it wasn't to the spilling of sap, but to tumble and play, barking and yipping the whole time.

I had just settled myself back in to wait when I saw my pack emerge, Yellow Red in the front and Whiteflower at the back. A small cherry blossom wolf and a dead ash wolf approached them from behind, clearly intent on ambush, when another wolf the color of a bruised plum and the side of Ambercrown exited the den and started to wander.

At seeing the larger wolf, the pink and grey wolves moved on, though not without a quite challenge to my pack. I could feel the anger in Dirty Sap, her branched buzzing in that strange way of hers before Whiteflower yipped something to her.

Even so, the threat was obvious. This blossom and ash pack was hunting my alpha, and so, when the ash one went and started to yip at the plum wolf, I continued to watch the pink one.

It wasn't long before I saw what they were planning. The pink one waited by a strange thing. Two grey rocks with an Unmoving corpse stuck between them, one end raised while the other left to lie on the ground. I could see other wolf pups sitting or standing upon them, pushing themselves up while their partners would fall to the ground. There were a few, but their magic was strange.

Still, having seen them, I understood that when one end of the Unmoving corpse rose, the other would fall, and that if there weren't two wolves, this would happen very quickly.

It happened so fast that I didn't have time to react.

One moment, the Yellow Red was walking with Dirty Sap and Whiteflower, and the next she had turned to look at something. The Pink one struck, pushing Yellow Red over before jumping on the strange thing and leaping back off.

The Unmoving corpse leapt into motion, a product of the Pink one's wicked magics, clipping my alpha in the head, before she fell to the ground, and then striking a telling blow once more when it came back down.

Dirty Sap and Whiteflower spun at the sound, like a melon being struck with a branch, but the Pink one was already halfway across the small field.

The Plum wolf spun as well, and at her barking, revealed herself to be The Voice. She raced over to Yellow Red, but did not attack. Instead, she looked around, seemingly confused.

I'll bet she is, the ash wolf performed admirably. The little bitch is clever enough to distract the larger threat while her alpha strikes.

I heard the barking and yapping from them all, but the pink one stayed far enough back that not a single wolf looked at her.

They are a threat to my pack. Even if The Voice is some form of ally, those two are hunting my alpha.

I won't let them.