Forest pressed herself towards the trunk of the pine that she was climbing. Boulder, her eldest and biggest brother, was seeking, and was too clumsy to climb the tree to get her. But not if he gets Pine to jump up and get me. Forest peered over the side of the trunk to try to locate the reddish she-wolf, but only for Boulder to catch a glimpse of her own reddish fur.

“I can see you!” Boulder barked up to her, his sleek gray fur shining in the sun.

“But I’m not coming down!” She barked back, prepared to climb higher up the tree. Not unless you call Dove…

Boulder seemed to read her mind because he howled, “Dove! Forest is climbing the trees again!”

“What?!” Dove, Forest and Boulder’s mother, was with them in a flash. “Forest, get back down right now!” Dove was the Beta, second in command of the pack, so Forest was expected to do what she said.

“Fiiiiine,” Forest grumbled, picking her way back down the tree. On the last branch, she leaped down, landing next to Dove.

“Now, you have to help me find Tempest and Dusk!” Boulder barked triumphantly. Tempest and Dusk were Forest’s other siblings. Forest, always stubborn and never admitting to lose, was sulky.

Suddenly, an idea came to Forest. “I see Dusk!” She barked, pointing her tail at the space behind Boulder.

“Where?” Boulder asked, whirling around. Forest also spun on the spot, racing away from Boulder and Dove. “Hey! Cheater!” Boulder called after her as she raced into a clump of ferns, trying to throw Boulder off her track. As Forest got deeper into the ferns, she bumped into something solid and furry.

“Oops,” Forest said, landing on the furry thing. She recognized the scent, and looked down to see the light gray fur of Tempest.

“Oh, hi!” Forest said, jumping off Tempest. “Boulder’s coming after me so we’d better run.” Forest peered back, and Boulder’s muzzle suddenly appeared through the ferns.

“Gotcha!” He said, his gaze landing on Tempest. “And it looks like you found Tempest, too.”

“Aw geez,” Forest grumbled, then she ran for their den with Tempest following, Boulder hot in pursuit. The two she-wolves easily slid through the entrance of the den, Boulder pausing to carefully slide between the brambles inside, being bigger than both of them. Forest landed again on something gray, though smaller and darker, which she immediately took to be Dusk.

“Forest! You led Boulder to him too?” Tempest moaned as Boulder managed to get his fur through the entrance. Forest immediately darted out the back hole of the den, Dusk and Tempest following.

“Come on!” Boulder complained as he squeezed through the considerably smaller gap. “Can’t you make bigger holes? And I won!”

“Well, maybe!” Forest yipped, then turned and ran into the forest, leaping over the small stream, tripping over the smaller Tempest and veering for the thicker bushes ahead, the camp disappearing behind her.

₪ ₪ ₪

Tempest ran after her sister, determined not to get caught by Boulder for the second time. She crashed through the bushes, staying on Forest’s tail. Soon, she was panting hard and she had to slow down. Her smaller and shorter legs couldn’t run much further. Forest slowed in front of her, then stopped. Then Dusk appeared through the thick forest and Boulder followed. All four of them were panting hard and when they finally caught their breath, Tempest realized that she didn’t recognize the forest around her.

“Umm, guys?” Dusk whimpered, breaking the silence. “I think we might be lost.”

“Oh no! We can’t be. Which way did we come from?” Boulder wailed, looking around.

“I don’t know,” Tempest answered. “I was just following Forest!”

“Hey! It isn’t my fault we’re lost! I wasn’t trying to go that far-” Forest stopped, looking up at a tree behind Tempest “Birds! Tempest, maybe you can use your ability!” Forest yipped.

Tempest slowly turned around, not wanting to alarm the birds, sparrows, she realized. Creeping closer, she focused on the three sparrows and did her best to block out the rest of the world.

“Looks like a coup- pups,” one said.

“They look like the ones from the gr- of wolves nearby,” the second said.

“What are they saying Tempest?” Forest barked.

“- do, Earl, -they?” said the first.

“I’ll tell you later,” Tempest barked with annoyance.

“Should we check  if the pack -looking for them?” the sparrow called Earl asked.

“Alright,” The first said, sounding sulky “D- you know which way?” 

“If we fly straight towards th- mountain, we’ll get there,” the third replied, taking off.

Tempest watched them, making sure to see which direction they were flying in. Once she was completely sure, she broke her connection, and turned to the others.

“I found out which way we need to go!” she said excitedly. “If we hurry, I think we’ll make it back before Dove starts looking under every hedge and bush.” She added, trying to cheer them all up a bit.

Tempest led the way as the four pups walked quickly through the forest. The walk back seemed to be longer, probably because Forest keeps getting distracted. Tempest thought. At last, they made it back to camp in time for nightfall, tired but unharmed.

“Tempest! Forest! Boulder! Dusk! You're all safe! I was so worried!” Dove yelped.

Red, the pup’s father and the Alpha of the pack appeared through the ferns. “You made it back on your own! Well done pups,” He said. “You must be tired from exploring. Let’s get you all to bed.”

Tempest was so tired that she didn’t object when her mother picked her up by the scruff and fell asleep almost as soon as the four pups had laid down.

It was past midday and a few days after the little adventure Forest and her littermates had in the forest (to which they were scolded and then kept an eye on) when Red’s howl echoed through the camp. Forest raced toward the entrance of the den, tripping on her own tail and landing on Tempest on the way, dashing into the clearing right after Dove. Dusk sat beside her, Tempest landing on his tail with Boulder following close behind.

“What do you think he’s called us for?” Forest asked Dusk, who was whining at Tempest to get off his tail.

“Ssh!” A sharp yip came from behind her. Forest whipped around to see  Slate sitting there. She hadn’t noticed him approaching, possibly because of his ability, going unnoticed.

“Oh, hi Slate!” Forest chirped, greeting the dark gray wolf. In return, there was a series of growls to be quiet from a few of the older wolves.

“Forest, be quiet and pay attention!” Dove growled at her. Forest opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it when Dove gave her a stern glare.

“Wolves of Mountain Pack! Dove and I have decided that it’s time to move to a new camp, for… safety reasons,” Red, who was sitting on a rock, announced, looking at Forest at the last part. Forest, wondering what she'd done, opened her mouth with a retort, but Dove slapped her tail over Forest’s mouth. Forest spit light gray fur out of her mouth, and almost missed what Red said next.

“And, we are going to move closer to the mountain, for Pearl heard a good supply of mountain goats there,” Red said, nodding at the white she-wolf, who blinked her blue eyes back. “We will move tomorrow at first light. Be prepared.” Red jumped from his place, and the wolves started breaking up to get ready. Dove ushered Forest and her sibling to their den, telling them to clean up and that she would go and get food for them.

“Do we have to go to the mountains?” Forest complained. “There are no trees there at all!”

“Red made the decision to go there, Forest,” Dove barked. “It won’t be that bad.”

“But it will!” Forest whined, but Dove had already left. “What do you think mountain goats would taste like? What is a goat, anyway?” Forest yipped to her littermates. “I think it might taste like deer. Or maybe beavers? I barely remember eating one, though.” Forest swiped her tongue over her mouth. “Oh, do you think there are beavers there? I would like to try one again.”

Boulder groaned. “Forest, did you really have to talk about food?” He whimpered. “I’m really hungry now.”

“I think there would be a few trees in the mountains, right?” Forest asked no one, ignoring Boulder. “I saw a few on the mountain when I went on the treetops. I wonder if they’re easy to climb, though. Where do you think we’re going to live, Tempest?”

Tempest blinked. “Oh um, maybe in a cave? There are a few in the mountains. I heard Red talk about them.”

Forest yawned. “Oh, whatever. I think I’m going to bed.”

“But we’re supposed to be cleaning!” Dusk yipped.

“Whatever. You guys can do the cleaning,” Forest dismissed as she curled up to take a nap.

₪₪₪

Come on! Forest can’t just dump all the work on us. Tempest grumbled to herself, sweeping the fur out of the den with her tail. Dusk was covering the spots where they had patched up some cracks to make the den look abandoned. Boulder was complaining about Forest being allowed to sleep while the rest of the pups worked. Tempest agreed with him, though not out loud.

“Pups, I’m back with some elk!” Dove said, poking her darker colored head into the den. “Go wash yourself in the pond nearby and get Dusk, Tempest. Forest! Are you sleeping? Boulder, wake her up and meet me outside. If she doesn't help out with cleaning, she gets the least amount of elk,” Dove finished, retreating from the den entrance.

Tempest was about to follow her out when a tail blocked her. “Wait, watch this first Tempest!” Boulder chirped to her, a gleam of mischief in his eyes.

Boulder walked up to Forest and leaned down, as if to shout in her ear, but suddenly he stopped, and leaned down for her tail. Then, he started to bat her tail around and play with it, ‘accidently’ stepping on it sometimes.

“Oww…” Forest grumbled, still half asleep.

“Wake up sleepyhead!” Boulder shouted into her ear. “You're going to get a prize for not helping us clean. Less elk! Also, your tail is fun to play with."

Boulder finished his show by suddenly pouncing on Forest, waking her up instantly.

“I should go get Dusk now,” Tempest said, leaving Forest growling at Boulder.

Tempest ran over to the small pond near the entrance of camp and washed her tail in the cool water. As Tempest started to dry up, Forest ran over to her. Still not fully awake, she ran into Tempest, throwing her off balance, and sent both she-wolves tumbling into the pond. 

“Ugh! Forest! You got me wet all over.” Tempest squealed.

“Blegh,” Forest sputtered, spitting out a leaf. “Sorry, but at least I’m fully awake now?”

“Just go eat,” Tempest growled, scowling and shaking her pelt for the second time. “I’ll get Dusk.”

“Finally! I’m starving!” Boulder exclaimed as the two she-wolves and Dusk made their way over. “Dove said I wasn't allowed to eat until you guys came.”

“How come you didn’t help us though, Forest?” Dusk added. “You were just sleeping the whole time.”

“Hey, I helped Tempest get clean!” Forest retorted through a mouthful of elk.

“By throwing me in the pond when I was already clean,” Tempest muttered, just loud enough for the other pups to hear.

When they were done eating and laughing, they played a game of Hide & Seek, though it isn’t very easy to hide when half of the pack is watching me. Tempest thought.

“Pups, it’s time to get you to bed,” Dove barked at them. Midday had passed, and the sun was starting its descend into sunset.

“But it’s not dark yet!” Forest argued. “Why do we have to sleep so early?”

“We will be traveling very early tomorrow. You need to get lots of rest for the journey,” Dove replied, ushering them into the den. “I’ll come join you later. I need to help with the preparations for the journey now.”

Sleep didn’t come for a long time. Tempest thought about the tales of the great ancestor wolves as she lay in her nest. They had amazing abilities, or powers, she supposed. They could walk on air, control the elements, put any animal to sleep, and so much more. The rarest power was reading minds. Only a few ancestors could do that. All of those powers were extinct now. Now, there were only abilities, and not all packs even had abilities. Tempest’s pack was one of the few that did.

“Tempest, are you still awake?” Doves' voice cut through her thoughts.

“I can’t sleep,” Tempest answered

“I’ll tell you a story. It is about the ancestors that walked these lands before us.” Dove paused before beginning the story. “Once, there was one big pack of ancestors. They lived peacefully amongst each other. Then, one day, there was an accident. Both the Alpha and Beta were killed in a big avalanche. The pack tried to decide the next leader, but the two wolves that wanted to be the next alpha wouldn’t agree with each other. Both got many supporters, until the pack was divided into two packs.” Dove began.

"This is the one about the Stone Wolf!" Tempest interrupted, delighted.

“Yes, it is," Dove replied before going on. "The two packs fought for moons. Then, finally, the two packs decided that there would be one last battle to determine the leader of the survivors of the war. There was one ancestor that didn’t want to be part of war. This wolf became a lone wolf as soon as the pack was split, but when he heard of the great battle that was to come, he was determined to stop it. He traveled to the heart of the mountain, the same one that we will travel to tomorrow. In the mountain, he sought a stone, one that would make his power stronger, the power to put animals to sleep. As the two packs rushed towards each other, the wolf touched the stone with his nose, putting the two packs to sleep and losing his power forever,” Dove finished, her voice fading as Tempest drifted off to sleep.

Forest woke up at sunrise to Boulder howling at her to wake up, making her ears hurt in the process.

“Wake uuup!” Boulder yipped. “Come on, wake up up up!”

“Nooo…” Forest groaned, curling her body tighter. “Leave me aloneee.”

“Dove said to get uuup!” Boulder chirped, prodding her with his paw. “We’re going to the mountains today!”

“But there’s no trees thereee,” Forest complained, whacking Boulder’s paw away with her tail.

“Dove!” Boulder barked, running out of the den and leaving Forest alone. “Forest’s not waking uuup!”

“Really?” Dove slid through the entrance, followed by Tempest. “And last night you were complaining about going to bed early?”

“That was yesterday,” Forest mumbled. Suddenly, droplets of water splattered over her, making her jump up. Tempest stood there, looking amused with a soaked ball of moss in her mouth.

“What was that for?!” Forest demanded, shaking out her fur. “I’m already clean!”

“That,” Tempest barked. “Was for yesterday.”

“But that was yesterday!” Forest repeated. “And how is that payback? I’m barely wet!”

“I can have Boulder throw you into a pond if you want.” Tempest suggested.

“No thank you,” Forest yawned, stretching. “Let’s throw Dusk or Boulder in a lake next. Or we can throw both in. Doesn’t really matter who.”

“You are throwing nobody in a lake!” Dove growled. “They’ll drown!”

“Echo wouldn’t,” Tempest chirped as they exited the den. “Her power is swimming.”

“Then let’s get Boulder to throw Echo in the lake, then!” Forest yipped as they went to meet the rest of the pack.

“I heard that!” Echo called, glaring at Forest through her slitted blue eyes. There were a few howls of amusement throughout the wolves. 

“You might as well throw her into the lake. That’s how she got her ability!” Crack yipped, a mischievous glint in his eye. There were more howls that echoed through the camp.

"Shut up, Crack!" Echo growled. 

“Can we get moving before they put terrible ideas into the pup’s heads?!” Dove whimpered at Red, who was still yipping with amusement.

“Okay, let’s get going!” he howled to the pack, and they all barked in agreement. Everybody moved to their positions, the pups looking around in confusion.

“Come here!” Dove barked at them, and they all scurried to her side. Forest saw Pine and Crack take position at the back of the group, Pearl joining Red and Pebble at the front. Probably because she figured out about the goats. Forest thought as Echo and Slate joined the pups and Dove in the middle.

“Do you remember the last time we moved?” Echo asked them as they started jogging. “You pups were carried last time. Remember, Crack?”

“Yeah,” Crack grumbled. “I got Boulder. And he was really heavy. Echo got Dusk. He’s much lighter. Dove had Forest while Pearl got Tempest.”

“I remember carrying Tempest,” Pearl barked, slowing down to join them. “She kept asking me all sorts of questions about where we were going.”

“Well, Dusk was quiet,” Echo said as they picked up speed. “Whined that he was cold once in a while, though.”

“It is starting to get a bit cold,” Forest yipped as she fluffed out her fur.

“Well, yeah! We’re out of the forest, Forest,” Boulder chirped, laughing at his own joke.

“Ssh!” Pearl hissed at them from the front. “I hear hooves! Probably moose.”

“Where?” Dove asked, her ear pricked.

Red scented the air. “Over by that stream-” Before Red could finish his sentence, Dove was off in a blur of light gray fur. “-in that direction,” He finished, pointing his muzzle in the direction his mate had gone.

Pebble and Pine immediately ran after Dove. Crack and Slate followed, just as the moose burst into view of the pups, in pursuit of Dove.  It was a big male, charging straight towards them. When it saw the group of wolves, it skidded to a stop. Forest saw Pine jumping on the moose, and Pebble, the smallest, yet strongest wolf of the pack, trying to throw the moose off balance. The bull turned to flee, but Crack, who had snuck up, pounced on it, and Slate seemed to appear from the ground. The moose paused, looking confused, giving Pebble the opportunity to pounce on it, causing it to toppled under the weight of all three wolves. 

There was a cloud of dust, and then the wolves stood up, triumphant in catching their prey. The pups cheered as Pebble dragged up the moose, and started to tear it up for everyone. Forest accepted her piece and enthusiastically ate it, not realizing that she had been famished from the jog. She curled up to take a quick nap, and quickly fell asleep.

₪ ₪ ₪

Tempest gazed in awe at the hunt, amazed at how the wolves worked together, each using their abilities to the fullest potential. Dust swirled up as the moose fell, hitting the ground, and Pebble quickly got to work, tearing the moose into portions for the pack. Tempest ate her fill, glad that they had stumbled upon the moose. When she had finished, she noticed that Forest had curled up and was already sleeping. Dusk and Boulder followed her lead, but Tempest wanted to ask something first. She walked up to Dove, who was washing her paws in a puddle of water after the run.

“Dove, how far are we going to travel?” Tempest asked her.

“We’re more than halfway there. After we rest a bit, Pebble will scout ahead to see if she can find somewhere suitable to make camp,” Dove responded. “You should rest up too. We still have to go a bit farther.”

“Okay, I’ll go join the others,” Tempest replied.

Tempest walked back to the others. Her legs were already sore, and she curled up, quickly falling asleep among her litter mates.

When Tempest woke up, she noticed that the sun was high above them, and it would start to go down soon. She also noticed that the other wolves were already awake, although, as expected, Forest was still asleep. One wolf was missing though. Where’s Pebble? Tempest wondered, before realizing that Pebble must have gone scouting already. Boulder bounded up to Tempest, carrying a chunk of moose.

“Come on Tempest! Dove said to wake Forest up,” Boulder yipped through the moose. “I’m going to do something different this time,” he barked, waving the chunk in front of Forest’s muzzle. 

Boulder held the piece in front of Forest, until finally, Forest blinked her eyes open and yawned. Boulder set the moose next to him and nudged Forest awake. Forest lunged for the chunk, and Boulder jumped on her, stopping her in time. The two started to wrestle, and didn’t notice as Tempest took the chunk of meat to Dove.

“Oh, Tempest. You're awake. Is Forest awake yet?” Dove asked as Tempest dropped the piece.

“Forest and Boulder are back there,” Tempest said, indicating the direction they were in. “They're wrestling.”

“What?! We’re about to start and they’re getting messy?!” Dove barked “Tell them to wash up. We’ll leave as soon as they’re done.”

“Okay,” Tempest chirped.

Tempest walked over to Boulder and Forest, carefully as not to get crushed by her bigger littermates.

“Forest! Boulder! Dove said to wash up and that we were leaving soon!” Tempest barked, speaking louder so she would be heard.

“Fine,” Forest panted as she walked to the pool, jumping over Boulder and landing on his tail on the way.

“Oww!!!” Boulder yowled “That hurt, Forest!”

Once the two had finished washing, the pack set off again. Not long after the pack had set off, Pebble came running back to them.

"I found a suitable place to make camp! It's hidden from land predators and it has a big pond close by," Pebble said through breaths. “There is a family of skunks that live nearby but we should be fine if we don’t disturb them.”

At the small she-wolve’s announcement, the pack broke up, whispering to each other.

“Let’s throw Dusk into the pond when we get there,” Forest whispered to Tempest.

Tempest batted Forest’s muzzle away from her.

What’s a skunk and why shouldn’t we disturb them? Tempest wondered. Are they some sort of predator?

“What’s a skunk?” Tempest asked the other pups.

“I think Dove told me once when the rest of you were playing but I wasn’t listening so I’m not sure,” Forest answered. “I don’t think they’re dangerous though.

“If they were, we wouldn’t be making camp next to them, right?” Dusk added. “Right?” He repeated after no one replied.

“You’re probably right, Dusk,” Tempest replied with uncertainty.

“Wolves of Mountain Pack!” Red’s howl cut through the chatter, and soon every wolf had fallen silent. “Pebble has brought us news of a possible camp. I believe we will be able to make it before nightfall, so let’s begin immediately. Pebble, take the lead.”

Everyone got into position once more, and the trek continued once more. As Red had predicted, the pack reached the new camp around sunset.

The new camp was a flat clearing on the side of the mountain. It had small tufts of grass and two bushes. One was a berry bush with bright blue berries Tempest hadn’t seen before and the other was a holly. This isn’t a bad camp actually. Tempest thought. I was expecting for us to just live on the mountainside.

Dusk yawned besides her. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go to sleep.”

“Where?” Boulder asked him.

“In the cave over there. It’s a bit hidden by the holly but it looks like it would be a nice den,” Dusk answered.

“I’ll join you in a moment,” Tempest said.

The others nodded as Tempest turned back. Tempest quickly asked the nearest wolf, Pine, what the blue berries were. After finding out the berries were, she padded back to the cave and joined her littermates, drifting to sleep.

Forest was sleeping peacefully and disturbing no one when a light gray bundle of fur landed on her.

“Hey!” Forest squealed as she jumped up to her paws, knocking Tempest off her back. “We don’t have to get up early! What was that for?!”

“For fun.” Boulder barked from the back of the cave. “I want to explore these caves more!”

“Okay! Let’s go!” Forest yipped, now fully awake, tripping over Tempest on her way to where Boulder was standing.

“Shouldn’t we tell Dove where we’re going?” Dusk asked.

“What’s the point in that?” Forest asked. “She’ll tell us not to go.”

“Come on, Dusk! Are you coming or not?” Boulder called behind him as he started to disappear into the shadows. “Forest and Tempest are coming, right?”

“Well, yeah!” Forest squealed, following him. “Come on, Tempest!”

“Ok, but we shouldn’t go that far,” Tempest barked. “Dove will look for us if we do.”

“We didn’t even go in yet!” Forest called behind her as shadows spread over her. “Duuusk! You cooome-ing?!”

“Fine!” Dusk yipped, his pawsteps drumming on the cave floor. “I’m coming!”

“Great!” Boulder barked, his voice echoing. “Now there’s all of us!”

There was a yelp from Dusk behind Forest. “What?!” She called, her voice echoing.

“I felt something on my tail!” he whined.

“Well, that was probably a rock!” Forest shouted back.

“But it wasn’t a rock!” Dusk whimpered. “I want to go back!”

“Of course it’s a rock! We’re in a cave, for- mmph!” She spat out a tail.

“It was probably a rock, like Forest said.” Boulder said. “But if there was anything dangerous, she would have scared them away with her infuriating talking!”

There was a howl of laughter from Tempest, whose muzzle got slapped by Forest’s tail.

“Ha ha.” Forest growled. “Very funny. Do you know where you’re going, Boulder?”

“Well-” Boulder said sheepishly. “Not really. I can’t see at all. But we’ll get back following our scent.”

“You can’t see?” Dusk asked from behind Forest.

“Well, yeah!” Forest barked. “It’s pitch black!”

Dusk looked even more confused. “It’s pitch black?”

“Um, yes,” Tempest chirped as Dusk started whimpering. “Is something wrong, Dusk?”

“No,” Dusk whimpered. “But since you can’t see, there is a wolf right in front of us!”

“A what?” Tempest asked. “Are you okay, Dusk?”

“He’s right.” A new voice came from ahead of the pups. Forest squinted, trying to see the new wolf that had joined them.

There was a growl from Boulder. “Who are you?”

“I am Ash, a former she-wolf of Mountain Pack,” the stranger said. “And who are you?”

“Well,” Boulder started. “We are wolves of Mountain Pack! What are you doing, invading our territory-”

“Hi!” Forest jumped in. “I’m Forest! And that grumpy lump of fur you were talking to is Boulder, that tiny ball of fluff who I think is behind me is Tempest, and that whiny pile of fur somewhere to my right is Dusk!”

“Well, nice to meet you,” Ash sounded amused.

“Oh well, it’s nice to meet you, too!” Forrest chirped “You said that you were formerly in Mountain Pack, right? Did you drop out? Did someone kick you out? Are you related to anyone from Mountain Pack? What is it like, being a lone wolf? Did you like it? Why are you in the caves? How did you-”

“Forest, you’re making my ears hurt,” Tempest cut across her.

“And Ash is to our left, not right. You’re talking to air!” Dusk added.

“What are your abilities?” Ash inquired.

“Well, Tempest can understand birds! And I think my ability is climbing trees, maybe? Boulder and Dusk don't-”

“I think my ability is seeing in the dark,” Dusk put in. “I can see Ash right now.”

“Oh, great,” Boulder mumbled. “Everyone has abilities except me.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll get yours soon!” Forest reassured him.

“Pups, are you lost?” Ash asked them.

“No,” Boulder growled. “We know our way back! Why don’t you leave us alone?”

“You said that you are in Mountain Pack?” Ash tried.

“Well, yeah!” Boulder barked.

“Can you take me to Red, if he is still the Alpha? Or is it Dove now?” Ash questioned.

“Well, it’s still Red.” Tempest put in before Boulder could speak. “And what do you want from him?”

“Of course we’ll take you back!” Forest yipped. “Let’s go!” She turned on the spot, tripping over Tempest and landing on Dusk, who had apparently been behind Tempest. “Hey!” Both squealed as she clambered off of them.

“Sorry!” Forest barked, and tried to lead the way back. She paused for a second, unsure of where to go.

“Here, I know how to get back,” Dusk said, sliding past her. “I saw the way here.” Then, he lowered his voice. “Why do you trust her? She could be trying to take over the pack.”

“Well,” Forest whispered back. “She still smells of Mountain Pack, and she doesn’t sound dangerous. Plus, if she was, she would have done something to us already.” Then, she raised her voice. “Lead the way, Dusk!” Forest said as they set off back to the den.

₪ ₪ ₪

The walk back to the den was difficult for Tempest, as she couldn’t see at all. They took quite a bit of time trying to get into a line, and Boulder was no help. He insisted that Ash would walk in front of him so that he could keep an eye on the she-wolf. Not that he can see any more than I can. Tempest thought. Everyone kept tripping on each other and bonking into the rocks whenever Dusk took a turn, so in the end, they held the others' tails lightly in their mouths.

When they finally made it back to the den, the wolves took a bit of time for their eyes to adjust to the light. Then, they stepped outside of the den. The first thing that Tempest noticed was the sun. It was hanging  high over them.

Mid-day! We were gone longer than we had planned, or I had planned anyway. Tempest though. Forest would have stayed in there for the whole day if it were up to her. Then, she realized that she didn’t even know what Ash looked like, so she turned and observed her for a while. Ash was dark gray, with a lighter underbelly and her tail and paws looked as if she had been dipped in snow. She had grayish blue eyes, and Tempest thought Ash looked a lot like Echo, Pearl, and Crack.

Tempest saw Slate, Pine, Pebble, and Red, though Pebble had just walked into the camp. When they noticed the five wolves, Red immediately told Slate and Pine to get the rest of the pack. Ash didn’t seem to notice what he said though. Ash must have been down in the caves for a long time. Tempest thought. It seems like she’s getting used to being on the surface.

Dove rushed into camp, followed by Echo, Pearl, Crack, Pine, and Slate. The three blue eyed littermates, Echo, Pearl, and Crack, rushed towards Ash, followed by Slate and Tempest was once again reminded how much Ash and the other three wolves looked alike.

“Are you hurt? Are you alright? Did Ash take you away? Did Ash bring you back?” Dove asked, her fur blocking out Tempest’s view of Ash.

“We were fine! We only went into the cave!” Forest said.

“What?! The cave?! That’s dangerous!” Dove barked

“No it’s not! It’s perfectly safe. The only dangerous thing is the rocks!” Forest answered.

“The cave could have collapsed! You could have stepped on a sharp rock and cut yourself! A rock could have fallen from the ceiling!” Dove rambled, walking a tight circle around the pups.

Between the circles that Dove was making, Tempest saw Echo, Pearl, Crack, and Ash walk over. As Dove started talking about dangerous predators,  Tempest heard Ash whisper “I see Dove’s the same as ever."

  "I think it's worse now that they're her own pups," Echo joked to Ash.

"Oh, come off her. Dove's only doing her duty as the beta," Pearl scolded.

“We’re fine Dove! We’re safe, and we found Ash!” Forest barked. “Plus, Dusk got his abilit-”

"Still, it could have been dangerous!" Dove growled. "You four are not allowed to go into those caves ever again.”

“I think that’s a bit too extreme, Dove,” Red defended. “After all, from what I hear, going into those caves is how Dusk got his ability.”

Dove growled in defeat and sat, curling her tail protectively around the four pups as Red motioned for Ash to meet him on the other side of the camp. When they came back to the rest of the pack, Red jumped onto a nearby rock and howled, signaling a pack meeting.

“As all of you know, the pups have found their way back to camp, and they have brought with them someone that we have not seen in a long time.” Red began. “I have talked to Ash, and we agree that she should go through her training, because she got lost when she had started. However, I think she would be a bit lonely training by herself, so I think it is time that Boulder, Forest, Dusk, and Tempest should begin their training.”

“Isn’t it a bit too early for them to start their training?” Dove fretted.

“My decision is final. There’s nothing harmful about being more prepared for situations,” Red barked to Dove. “Slate will mentor Boulder and Pine will mentor Forest. Pearl, Tempest and Crack, Dusk. I will be mentoring Ash, as I think my ability is the most like hers out of the remaining wolves. Echo and Pebble can help with the pups' training, and Dove can help with Ash’s, if they choose to. As usual, family members can not train them. That’s the end of today’s meeting,” Red finished, jumping off of the rock he’d been on.

As soon as the meeting had ended, Slate, Pine, Pearl, and Crack came over to Tempest and the other pups.

“Who’s ready for their first day of training?” Crack asked them. “I want to show you all over the territory.”

“They won’t be able to walk that far Crack,” Pine barked. “We can show them up to the lookout ledge.”

“Oh alright,” Crack gave in, rolling his eyes.

“I would lead but I might accidentally use my ability on the way, so I think it’s best that someone else leads,” Slate yipped. “Maybe Pearl or Crack?”

“I know a shortcut there. Let’s get going!” Pearl replied cheerfully.

The view at the lookout ledge had been great, but the trek there and back was difficult. Slate had told them where their territory ended and Pearl had told them of some good hunting spots in the mountains. Pine had done the same for the forest, and Crack had shown and told them of many water sources. Tempest thought they had learned a lot on their first day as she collapsed in the den, exhausted, and fell asleep.

Forest was sleeping when she heard a howl of “Wake up! You have to go training!”

“Dooove!” Boulder mumbled beside her. “It’s not even morning yet!”

“You should get up! Slate wants to show you a bit more of the territory and get back before midday!”

“Why midday?” Forest groaned. “Can’t it wait?”

“I’m sure Slate will explain why,” Dove replied. Forest peaked her eyes open just in time to see Dove lifting Tempest by the scruff. “Come on,” Dove mumbled around a mouthful of fur.

“Hey! Let me down!” Tempest squealed,  squirming in Dove’s grip.

“Okay, stop squirming,” Dove muttered, placing her down.

“Well,” Boulder declared, getting up and stretching. “That was something to start the day off with.”

Dusk also jumped up, fluffing his fur out. “It’s cold!” He whined, snuggling up next to Dove.

“Well, it is early morning,” Boulder declared, nudging Forest with his nose. “Get up already!” He barked.

Forest stumbled up and stretched, accidentally whacking Tempest with her swinging tail. “Okay, fine,” She grumbled. “It’s cold.”

“That’s because it’s early morning,” Boulder repeated, heading for the entrance. “Let’s go find Slate and ask him why we have to get up so early.”

“Yeah,” Forest agreed, following him out of the den. “And throw him in the pond if he has no good reason to do so.”

"Good idea,” Boulder agreed, wagging his tail in greeting as Echo and Pebble passed. “Hi.”

“Hi!” Forest echoed, also wagging her tail and whacking another muzzle in the process. “Sorry!” She exclaimed as she spun around to see Ash behind her. 

“It’s fine,” The she-wolf said, yawning. “It’s early.”

“Yeah,” Tempest agreed. “Dusk’s whining about the cold again.”

“That's because it’s so cold!” Dusk whimpered, following Tempest. He eyed Boulder’s thick fur. “And also, you guys have thicker fur!”

“Your loss,” Forest yipped as they joined their mentors.

“Why do we have to get up early when it’s cold?” Dusk immediately demanded.

“Because I want to get back before midday,” Slate said.

“Yeah, but why?” Dusk whined. “Why not later?”

“The prey will be the most lazy when it’s warm,” Slate explained. “That way, it’s easier to catch.”

“I vote to throw him in the pond,” Forest muttered to Tempest. “Lazy prey is a lame reason. Wouldn’t they be more un-lazy if some wolves show up?”

“Maybe,” Tempest said. “Though we could sneak up to it.”

“Yeah, but Dusk is going to complain about something and scare them away, you know,” Forest added.

“Are you guys coming?” Boulder, who was at the entrance of camp, howled at them. “Or chit chat until midday?”

“Coming!” Forest yipped, running ahead of Tempest.

“Wait up!” Tempest barked as Forest raced ahead of her, past Boulder, and into Pine.

A few minutes of walking took them to something white and cold laying all over the ground.

“It’s so cold!” Dusk squealed after tripping and landing in the white stuff.

Forest leaned down to sniff the ground. “Doesn’t really smell like anything.” She observed.

Boulder prodded it with a paw. “It is sorta cold.”

“Oh, come on,” Forest chirped. “It’s not that cold as you- arg!” She slipped, sliding with her paws splayed out.

“Forest, did you slip already?” Slate said, appearing out of nowhere.

“Did the pool freeze?” Pine questioned, jumping down from a tall rock.

“Looks like it,” Crack observed, tapping the ice. “Yep. But not thick. I’ll ask Echo to break it open later.”

“Crack, what is this stuff?” Dusk chirped, prodding the white stuff with his paw.

“That’s snow,” Crack said, bounding over. “Falls from the sky.”

“Sort of like powdery water,” Pine explained, walking over. “It melts if you breathe on it.”

“Wow! Can we try?” Forest yipped, leaning down and breathing on the snow. It melted a little.

“That’s barely anything-” Boulder started, but he was cut off by a loud rumble. 

Crack perked his ears, then whimpered. “Avalanche!”

Pine and Slate looked at each other in horror, then Slate hollered “Run!” He and Crack speed off so fast that they might have beaten Dove in a race. Pine jumped off towards a few tall rocks, leaving the pups.

“What’s an avalanche?!” Forest called into the air. At that moment, Ash ran to them from behind.

“Come on!” She howled at them. “Hide!”

The pups scattered at the panic in Ash’s voice. Forest raced towards a cave she saw, Dusk on her tail.

“Slow down!” Dusk panted at her.

“Save your breath!” Forest hollered back.

At that moment, they arrived at the cave. Forest, who had been looking back at Dusk, ran into a wall. “Oww,” She muttered.

Forest and Dusk fell silent as a huge pile of snow fell in front of the cave entrance.

“Do you think the others are okay?” Dusk whimpered. Then a small pile of snow landed on them.

“We should get in the cave,” Forest shook snow off her, and started into the blackness.

“But we’re going to get lost!” Dusk yipped, standing uncertainty at the entrance.

“Come on, it’s going to be fine,” Forest barked behind her. “Also, we might get buried under the snow or freeze if we stay out.”

“But we might get eaten!” Dusk whimpered. “Or the cave can collapse on us! Or a rock can fall and kill us! Or we can get cut-”

“Honestly, Dusk,” Forest barked behind her. “You’re starting to sound like Dove. Come on!” Forest could barely see Dusk now.

“Fine, fine. But don’t blame me if we get lost or die!” He growled as he followed Forest.

“Relax, we’re not going to get lost or die!” Forest said cheerfully. “It’ll be fun! Besides, what could go wrong? Your ability is seeing in the dark!”

₪ ₪ ₪

Tempest wasn't sure which way to go. Pine, Crack, and Slate had run farther away from camp, into territory she wasn't familiar with. She started running towards where they had gone, and soon realized that the others had already run off. By then, the rumbling sound was really loud.

Tempest ran for the nearest shelter, a hole in the ground, just big enough for her to fit in. Then, all of a sudden, rocks were rolling by, barely two claws length above her head. The light flickered as the giant rocks blocked out the sun. After what seemed like eternity, the rocks stopped rolling over her and the noise gradually faded away. She jumped out of the little hole and looked around.

The area was littered with chunks of rock, some as small as her paw and others much bigger than her. “Forest?! Boulder?! Dusk?! Ash?!” She called out, hoping someone would respond.

“Tempest! We're over here by the fallen pine!” A voice that she recognized as Boulders called out.

Tempest made her way over to the place Boulder had talked about, carefully maneuvering the scattered rocks, and saw another hole, but this one had a wide opening and led to a sort of tunnel.

“Tempest, get down,” Boulder barked from the bottom. “Ash thinks it will be safer if we go back to camp through the caves.”

Tempest jumped down landing next to Boulder and asked "Where is Ash? And won't we get lost in the tunnel?"

“Ash is deeper in the cave. I ran back when I heard you call," Boulder answered. "Also, Ash said the cave that we sleep in is a giant cave system, but she only says that of course. She said there were millions of openings around our territory, and she can get us there through the caves.”

"Actually there aren’t that many openings in the part of Mountain Pack territory that I explored. There are more outside the territory, and I’m sure there are even more in the territory I didn’t explore,” Ash chirped as she emerged from the dark tunnel and walked up to them. “But that’s not important right now. Let’s get going. It's not a far journey back, but it’s a bit farther than above ground.”

Tempest walked alongside Ash as Boulder brought up the rear, again insisting he kept an ‘eye’ on Ash, not that anyone could see a claw’s length ahead in the dark twisting tunnels.

After a bit of stumbling through the dark, twisted cave system, Ash said that there were other wolves in the caves, close to the three. Soon, they heard the whine of a wolf.

“I told you we would get lost! Seeing in the dark doesn’t mean I can magically get us out of a maze of tunnels!” Someone whined.

“Hey! It wasn’t a bad idea- Oww!”

“Umm Ash? I think that’s Forest and Dusk.” Boulder barked.

“Stay here, and don’t move. I’ll go get them,” Ash said, her tail brushing Tempest’s muzzle as she left them.

“That’s the wall you're walking into,” Dusk said.

“I know, okay?! I can’t see but that doesn’t mean- Oww!”

“That’s a dead end, Fores-” Dusk barked. “Ash? Is that you?”

“Follow me, and Forest, try not to bump into any more walls,” Ash said.

“Easier said than done for Forest,” Dusk added.

In a bit, Ash, Dusk, and Forest were joining Tempest and Boulder.

“Well, that was an interesting conversation,” Boulder barked as Tempest heard Ash and the others approaching.

“We should really get going now. Dove will be worrying herself to death,” Ash chirped, ignoring Boulder’s comment. “And quite literally at that,” she added.

They got into a line again and started heading back to camp, and of course Boulder insisted he walk behind Ash. After some more stumbling and Forest bonking into the walls, Ash announced that they were almost at camp. Just then, there was a loud rumble.

“Is it another avalanche?!” Tempest howled over the noise.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s good!” Ash answered.

As Ash said that, the ground started to shake, and Tempest felt a small crack forming under her paw.

“It’s going to be a cave-in! RUN!” Ash shouted.

Tempest ran, but tripped over a crack that had formed in the ground. Someone pushed her to her paws and she started again. Suddenly, there was a bright light shining ahead of them. “The exit!” Someone howled as they ran out of the collapsing cave, and into the bright light.

Behind them, the cave entrance collapsed, sending dust swirling into the air. Tempest coughed, the dust tickling her throat.

When the dust had cleared, and they had gotten used to the bright light of the sun, they saw that they were at camp, and the den they had slept in was blocked by huge boulders.

“That was way too close,” Forest said. “Even for my liking.”

“I agree. Cave-ins are dangerous,” Ash barked.

“Forest! Tempest! Dusk! Ash! You’re all safe!” Dove barked, running up to them at a blinding speed. “But where’s Boulder?”

“He was here a second ago,” Tempest said.

“I’m right here guys,” came Boulder’s voice. “Can’t you see me?”

“Where?” Dusk asked.

“I’m next to you, Dusk,” He replied.

After a bit more confusion and searching, they finally saw the faint outline of Boulder.

“Boulder! You're nearly invisible!” Tempest yipped.

“I am?” Boulder asked, looking down at his paws.

“Yeah. I think you got your ability!” Forest barked.

“Huh. I wonder how it works. Slate could probably help me with it though. My ability is similar to his, after all.” Boulder chirped. “Crack too.”

“Ability or no ability, all five of you are not allowed to go back into those caves,” Dove growled. “It’s dangerous there.”

“All five?! It used to be my home Dove! You can’t just ban me from ever going back!” Ash argued, turning to face Dove. “I’ve explored many of the tunnels and I know my way around!”

“Plus, that’s where I got my ability!” Dusk added.

“And my ability!” Boulder yipped happily.

“Alright, not forever but at least until you complete a bit of your training,” Dove said sternly, but in submission. “But how are you going to get in there? The entrance is block-”

There was another loud rumble and the ground shook.

“Get out of the camp! Find shelter!” Red’s howl echoed in the camp.

Everyone ran towards the entrance of camp and to the left. Tempest followed, struggling to catch up. Someone snatched her up by her scruff and suddenly, the world was a blur as the wolf ran to a nearby ledge at a blinding speed. Then the wolf, who she quickly realized was Dove, ran back toward camp, her paws seeming to levitate off the ground as she ran.

The ledge was more of a small shelter carved into the mountainside. It had roots twisting across the roof of the area, and a sort of dip at the back.

As Dusk and Boulder, the last two wolves, made their way to Tempest and Forest, who Tempest noticed next to her, the ground started shaking harder, and small cracks started appearing in the roof of the ledge.

"It's gonna be another cave-in!" Dusk shouted as Boulder fell over and Dusk tripped over the bigger he-wolf.

Then, all of a sudden, the ground stopped shaking, and she was nauseous. She swayed on her feet, trying to fight off a headache. When that didn’t work, she wondered if it was her ability, so she tried using it. Immediately, she was hit with a wave of confused bird calls, and something she couldn’t make sense of.

“Flee, fellow birds! Flee to the north! The ground is falling apart!!!”

When the ground stopped shaking, Forest was still off balance, and she toppled into Dusk, who had unfortunately been next to her.

“Hey!” He squealed as they tumbled into Boulder. “Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Forest yelped as she got up. “Ow! Boulder, you’re on my tail!”

“You shoved me!” Dusk retorted, shaking out his fur.

“No I didn't! Well, of course I would tumble into you after the ground throws me off balance!” Forest called, heading out of the shelter of the ledge.

“Forest!” Dove howled at her, running over to the pups. “Get underneath the ledge right now!”

“I’m perfectly safe!” Forest barked back, only to scurry back under the protection of the ledge to avoid a small tumble of pebbles.

“Forest, what did I tell you?” Dove barked, ushering the pups deeper under the cover of the ledge. “You could have been killed!”

Forest peered over her shoulder, trying to see what was going on outside the edge, but her view was blocked off by Pebble. She yawned, curling up to sleep, and listened to some birds twittering in the background. In the excitement of things, she was tired, and even a little bored. Waiting under a ledge seemed boring after the ground shaking, cave ins, and an avalanche.

She turned to talk to Tempest. “I’m bored. Do you want to do something?” She asked, but Tempest wasn’t there. She was with Red, Pebble, and Dove, chatting with them.

“Hey Forest! Tempest!” Boulder called from the back of the ledge. “Ash is telling us about living in the caves! You should come and listen!”

Forest opened her jaws to say sure, but at that moment Red stepped away from the huddle of wolves and howled to get the pack's attention. “Wolves of Mountain Pack!” He barked. “Tempest has brought us news! Birds are calling about the ground splitting open, so Dove, Pebble, and Pearl have decided to check it out. While they are doing that, the rest of the pack will search for a new place to stay. Everyone, get ready to move!” He turned to Slate and Pine, and the announcement ended.

Forest ran over to Tempest, who looked like she had a headache. “We should definitely follow Dove and the rest and see if the ground is actually split open!” She exclaimed, excited. “Let’s go!”

Tempest flattened her ears against her head. “Forest, I think we should just stay with the rest of the pack.”

“Why?” Forest yipped. “It’s so boring here!” But Tempest had already left. Forest shrugged, then decided that she would follow Dove on her own. The group was already exiting the ledge, and once she checked that no one was watching, Forest followed them.

Forest followed the other wolves from a distance, trying not to be spotted, or for the case with Pearl, not heard. But Forest was only graceful in trees and not on the ground. Several times Pearl turned around because she accidentally stepped on a branch or tripped, but she always managed to duck out of sight. But when they got to the base of the mountains, she almost gave herself away.

The ground was indeed split apart. A gaping crevasse split the earth in half, as if the mountain had been split away from the forest. Dove, Pebble, and Pearl were staring at the sides of the crevasse. Or not just the ground. There were wolves on each side of the canyon. Forest saw a few more climbing over the side. She also gaped at them. They were bigger than average wolves, and they were all snarling at the wolves opposite them. When the last wolf crawled out, the two sides glared at each other and then fled, one group towards the forest, and the other group towards Dove, Pebble, Pearl, and the hidden Forest.

As the group went near the place the four she-wolves were, Dove stepped out, blocking their way. “Hello,” she said coolly. “What business do you have here? If you don’t know, this is Mountain Pack territory.”

Forest decided to intervene before things got weird, and swiftly crawled up a dead tree nearby, then dropped in between Dove and the wolf in the lead of the group. They both gaped at her, and it gave Forest a chance to get a closer look at the strange group. They were all dark colored, with one wolf a lighter brown color.

“Hi! My name is Forest, and the wolf that was talking to you is Dove, and ack!” Forest yelped as Dove dragged her away.

“Forest, what are you doing here?” Dove growled in her ear. “You should be with the rest of the pack!”

“You must be mistaken, because this is our territory,” A dark wolf stepped out, her green eyes glimmering in the light.

There was an awkward silence as the wolves stared at each other in confusion.

“As Raven said, who are you, and why are you on our territory?” The leading wolf asked.

“We are the Mountain Pack, and this is our territory,” Pebble barked, stepping forwards.

“We are the Eclipse Pack and this territory belongs to us, the only marvelous wolf packs in the world,” A striped he-wolf announced dramatically, stepping forward. 

The Mountain Pack she-wolves stared at him in confusion.

“Basically, we’re wolves, which should be obvious, and we each have special powers,” A similar looking she-wolf put in. “And don’t mind him, he's always like that. Also, I’m Ghost, and that’s Smoke.”

The leading wolf growled softly while the rest of the group rolled their eyes at each other, and Smoke stepped back into the group. 

“Cool! My pack also has abilities too!” Forest piped up. Pearl whispered something in Pebble’s ear, and Pebble turned to the strange wolves. 

Pebble asked the leading wolf “What’s up with the other group of wolves? They’re crashing through the forest like a stampeding moose.”

“That’s the Dawn Pack. They’re a bit too energetic for this pack besides Smoke,” A wolf like all the others barked, followed by a murmur of laughter among the group.

The leading wolf opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but the wolf that was probably Raven hissed something in his ear, and Pearl suddenly said “Blitz.”

“What?” Forest and Pebble asked.

“Blitz,” Pearl repeated, indicating the leading wolf. “Well, that’s what I heard.”

Forest watched as Raven led Blitz away near a rock and sat down, muttering in low whispers. Forest wandered over to the rest of the group, ending up beside Smoke, but was immediately yanked back by Dove.

“Hey!” she squealed as Dove half dragged her away, trying to squirm out of her grip. “What was that for?!”

Dove glared at her, but Raven came over and asked Dove if she could spare a moment, and the two she-wolves walked a slight distance away, giving Forest a chance to go back to Smoke.

“Hi!” she yipped, making some of the other wolves look at her, and Pebble to glare. “I still don’t know what to call you guys.”

“Oh, there’s Blitz, Onyx, Ghost, Spirit, Aspen, Raven, and me. That’s it,” Smoke said.

“Wait- who, who, who, and who?” Forest asked, confused.

“The Alpha is Blitz, the quiet one, the Beta is Spirit, the bluish one, and I am me. That’s all you need to know.”

“Oh!” Forest chirped. “I’m Forest, and I like climbing trees. The tiny one that is glaring at me is Pebble-”

“I’m not that tiny compared to you,” Pebble growled, glaring at her.

“Well, you’re tiny compared to Smoke,” Forest pointed out, tilting her tail towards the giant wolf. “So that’s a fair comparison.”

“She is right,” Smoke said, looking down at Pebble. “You are small.” Pebble growled in defeat, and sat a distance away, glaring at the pair.

“So, like I was saying, the one that is watching the leader is Pearl, and the one that dragged me away last time is our Beta, Dove. Oh, and she’s my mom. And the Alpha is Red, but he’s not here right now. And I have three other littermates, but they’re not important right now,” Forest and Smoke sat there chatting for a while until Dove walked up to them.

“We’re going back to the rest of the pack, and the Eclipse Pack is coming with us,” She informed Forest.

“What pack?” Forest said.

“Eclipse Pack. That’s what they call themselves,” Dove said, indicating the strange group.

“Oh, okay. Let’s go find where Red and the others are!” Forest declared, jumping up, tripping over Smoke’s tail, and falling on her muzzle.

₪ ₪ ₪

When Forest said she wanted to follow Dove and the others, Tempest thought she was joking, but she realized now that Forest wasn't.  

Tempest gave a low growl, but didn't tell anyone because how dangerous could a trip to a small crack be?

Not too soon, other wolves started to notice that Forest was missing. She saw Pine, Forest's mentor, talking to Red, both often glancing at Tempest. 

Red barked something to Pine and approached Tempest, but stopped, looking as if he were tracking a scent.

"We have visitors!" He howled to the pack.

Boulder and Dusk, who had been arguing about moose and elk, came trotting towards Tempest when they heard the announcement.

“Dove is going to freak out when she realizes that Forest isn’t with u-” Boulder muttered before looking up and chirping "Oh, Forest's with Dove! I mean, of course Forest is with Dove. I knew that the whole time."

Tempest was about to tease him but all thoughts of that dispersed when she turned around to see the visitors that Red had talked about. They were wolves, but even the smallest of the strange pack was bigger than the biggest Mountain Pack wolf, all of them dark black and gray except for one light brown wolf at the back.

The leading wolf, a dark red and black he-wolf who Tempest assumed was the alpha, walked up to Red and Dove followed him. After a short conversation, Red faced the now alert Mountain Pack.

“This is the Eclipse Pack, and they will be staying with us as they get settled in their own territory,” he said, glaring at the pack before returning his gaze to them. “They will be helping us find or make a new camp as well as helping us hunt.”

“Yes, we will be helping you with the most important things in the world. Yes, absolutely, and ignoring the war that is happening right now,” a wolf barked, stepping in front of Red. "Oh, and I'm Smoke.”

“What?! There’s a war?!” Forest yipped excited, then paused. “Wait, what is a war?”

“You really don’t know what a war is?” Boulder asked

“Hey, no one told us what it was!” Forest argued

“It’s where two groups are fighting each other,” Tempest explained. “It’s not like a regular battle over territor-”

“Oh, so it’s like a regular battle over territory?” Forest yipped, cutting Tempest off. “Cool!”

“No, it’s not-  whatever.” Tempest said, sighing.

“It’s a huge battle with lots of cool magic used by us and weak magic used by the Dawn Pack,” Smoke said dramatically. “Also, did I mention that the Dawn Pack trip over their tails in fear?”

“Cool!” Forest yipped. “What’s Dawn Pack?”

“What’s magic?” Tempest asked.

“The Dawn Pack is the silly group of wolves that keep tripping in the war,” Smoke answered. “And magic is… magic.”

“That doesn’t answer my questio-” Tempest started to object before being nearly squashed as Forest tripped and fell.

“How’d you trip Forest?” Boulder asked between howls of laughter. “You weren't even walking!”

“Can you stop falling? You keep sending tremors,”Ash growled, glancing their way.

“Before I was rudely interrupted and pushed, I was going to introduce our pack,” Red said. “I am Red, the alpha of the Mountain Pack, and my mate and beta is Dove. I have stronger hearing and Dove can run faster. I know that most in my pack would rather introduce themselves so we can start with Pine."

“I'm Pine, Red's sister and Forest's mentor,” Pine said, motioning to Forest. "And my ability is jumping. I can jump higher than most, probably all, wolves.”

"I'm Slate, mentor of Boulder and father of Crack, Pearl, Echo, and Ash. My ability is going unnoticed," Slate barked, and for the first time Tempest saw the similarities between Slate and his pups. She hadn't realized he was their father. She was cut off from her thoughts as Boulder nudged her, and she realized that Pebble was already starting.

"I'm Pebble. I know I brought you here but I don't think you appreciate my strength enough. Though I am the smallest of the pack, I am the strongest because my ability is strength," Pebble barked with a low suspicious growl.

"I forgot to introduce myself but my name is Pearl, and I have stronger hearing," Pearl chirped. "And I'm Tempest's mentor."

“I am Ash. I am very sensitive to movement, especially on or in the ground. That's also my ability," Ash said, again glaring at Forest.

As Echo, Crack, Forest, Dusk, and Boulder said their longer than most intro’s, Tempest observed the new pack. She focused on the light brown wolf at the back because the she-wolf stood out so much. She was mostly light brown, but her muzzle was a darker shade of brown. Her jade green eyes were flecked with a darker sort of yellow. She also had a small cut on her muzzle. Another wolf, this one pale gray with darker muzzle, ears, and paws came up and closed his eyes. After a moment, the cut started to slowly disappear! How is that possible?! Tempest wondered. Is this what magic is? Super abilities?!

Tempest jolted out of her thoughts as someone nudged her. “Huh? Oh, I mean, my name is Tempest, and I can understand birds,” Tempest said, noticing the light brown wolf's eyes lighting up as she spoke.

“I am Blitz, the leader of the Eclipse Pack, and my ability is summoning fire. Spirit, my beta, can heal wounds and Onyx, my brother, can freeze things. Raven can see the future." The leader said, beckoning for Smoke to introduce himself.

"I, Smoke, can blind others for short periods of time. I-"

"I'm Ghost, Smoke's sister and I can walk through walls." A similar looking wolf interrupted.

"I am Aspen, and I can speak to some animals, such as birds," The light brown wolf said, staring directly at Tempest.

She… she can talk to birds? Tempest wondered, stunned. That's why she stared at me when I said I could understand them!

Tempest continued to listen to Blitz talk about the Dawn pack. Blitz said that both packs used to be part of the Lunar pack, but they had split up when an avalanche killed both Alpha and Beta. He also said that the Dawn pack had mainly elemental magic, and that they had gone towards the forest.

After everyone had been introduced, Aspen came up to Tempest asking "Tempest, right? Can you really talk to birds?"

"Of course! But why is your abil- I mean magic so much stronger than ours?" Tempest questioned.

"I’m not really sure. It might be related to the fact that we have the same territory even though we guarded it so well…” Aspen trailed.

“Wait, what?! What do you mean this is your territory?! Our pack has been living here for moons!” Tempest exclaimed.

“That’s what Dove said so I think there was some confusion or magic,” Aspen said "and I'm thinking it's the second option."

"How would your magic make us have the same territory?" Tempest wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that it will be important," Aspen said. "In the meantime, let's introduce you to some birds."

After a long discussion with Dove for permission to go out of the destroyed camp, Tempest and Aspen had an interesting yet wonderful conversation with Earl, the sparrow that had shown them back to their old camp when they were lost, and a short talk with a jay on the way back to camp, Tempest came back to a worried camp.

Immediately, Dove ran up to Tempest and asked "Where's Forest?! Did she go with you?"

Forest is missing? Again?!

Forest started running the second all of the wolves' scents disappeared. As she looked back, she stumbled on a hole and fell in, yelping. As soon as she fell, she was hit with a disgusting and powerful smell.

“Ack! What is that?!" She yelped.

She heard a scuttling sound behind her and whirled around, hitting her head on the low-roofed den and causing a shower of dust to fall on her.

"Oww!" She squeaked, facing a small creature.

The creature was black, with some white spots dotting its coat, and the awful smell seemed to be coming from it!

"No offense, but have you ever heard of cleaning your pelt?" Forest said to the thing.

The creature, not seeming to like her remark, stomped its forepaws on the ground.

"Sorry? I mean it though," Forest chirped.

The creature stopped stomping, and instead started to… stand on its forepaws?! Well that's weird. "I’m gonna go now..." Forest yipped, turning to exit. “Um, it was nice meeting you?"

After that encounter, Forest tried to be alert, but it didn’t last long and she soon forgot about the strange thing.

Forest trotted on, yawning and bored, plus being tired from running away a second time in the same day, when her paw fell through air and landed in freezing water. She yelped as she tumbled into the creek, dousing herself all over.

“Blegh,” She coughed, spitting out a minnow that had somehow got itself into her mouth. “I don’t like eating fish,” She told the minnow, before the tiny fish darted away. Forest splashed her way across the creek, slipping on the slick rocks and getting more wet then she needed to. When she reached the other side, she shook herself off, spraying water onto the birds that had unfortunately been in the bushes around her. They tweeted angrily at her and flew away, twittering about whatever.

“Sorry!” She howled after them. “Maybe you should fly away the next time you see a wolf?!” All she got in response was more twittering. “Fine,” She mumbled. “Be that way.”

As she entered a deeper thicket, she continuously stumbled over roots, twigs, bushes, and even the remains of something that looked like a rabbit. She gave up then on trying to do it like a normal wolf and climbed a nearby tree, balancing easily on the branches.

“So this is apparently how you’re supposed to feel on the ground,” She said to no one.

Forest spent the next few minutes hopping from tree to tree, snapping playfully at some squirrels that she came upon. They all squeaked at her and fled when she did.

Forest almost fell out of a pine that she had been balancing on when she caught sight of another wolf. She hadn’t noticed its scent, and she crouched low and peaked over the leaves. It was a she-wolf, Forest assumed after sniffing the area. The she-wolf had light brown fur, and was sitting on the ground, soaking up the sun that had peeked out. Forest shrugged and assumed it was some random wolf wandering around camp, which meant that she had to be close. 

She continued pouncing along branches until she caught the scent of several wolves, then paused, peering through the leaves. A she-wolf with a tan coat was talking to two other wolves, one similar-looking to her and the other Forest couldn’t exactly see. All three were sitting, alert and discussing. Forest leaned in further in hopes of hearing what they were saying when…

CRASH! The branch underneath her broke off, and Forest narrowly missed going along with it. She hopped down to lower branches, using it like stepping stones down a waterfall, landing on her feet, and almost on the wolf that had been talking.

“Hi!” Forest yipped. “I’m Forest, and- ack!” A vine whipped out of nowhere, wrapping her in a cocoon. The  wolf that was similar to the tan she-wolf was up, her fur bristling and looking a lot like thorns. The other wolf that had been listening was also up, crouching down. He looked a bit like one of the badgers that were occasionally caught, but more brownish.

“Who are you, trespasser?” The tan she-wolf growled.

“Again, I’m Forest,” Forest repeated. “But what’s a trespasser?”

The she-wolf with spiky fur looked at her weird. “Are you kidding or what?” She asked. “You actually don't know what trespasser means?”

“Yep!” Forest barked cheerfully. “No kidding. What does trespasser mean, anyway? And can you also get rid of these vines? I mean, it’s cool, but it feels weird to be in here. Are you the Dawn Pack? Also, why does the wolf next to you have weird looking fur? And-”

“Do you always talk this much?” The weird furred wolf asked.

“Well, I don't know,” Forest replied. “I don’t pay attention to how much I talk.”

“That’s enough,” The tan she-wolf snapped. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you guys,” Forest said. “Duh. Why else would I pop off a tree?”

 The tan she-wolf rolled her eyes to the sky. “Put her in there,” She barked, gesturing with her nose. At first, Forest saw nothing. But then, what looked like a miniature cave appeared, all made of vines. 

“Cool!” Forest managed to bark before she was dragged into there by the weird furred she-wolf. 

Forest yawned. She had been in the cage for what seemed like forever and it was getting slightly dark, when the weird furred wolf came in.

“Follow me,” She whispered, her fur not looking so weird now.

“Why?” Forest tried to whisper back, but her voice caught a high note.

“Shh!” The wolf snapped. “ Or we’ll get caught.”

“What do I call you then?” Forest half whispered back. “ I can’t call you weird furred she-wolf forever.”

 The she-wolf sighed. “Call me Rose.” Rose whispered.

“What do I call the she-wolf with tan fur and the wolf that looks like a brown badger?”

“Are you always this annoying?” Rose asked. 

“I don’t know.” Forest replied. 

“Call them Orchid and Talon.” Rose muttered. “And you give me a headache.” She peered out of the plant-cave entrance. “You coming or not?”

“I’m tied up with vines right now,” Forest pointed out.

“Riiight,” Rose slashed open the vines. “Now are you coming?”

“Sure!” Forest said, tripping over the vines littering the floor.

Rose sighed again. “This is going to be a long trip back to wherever you came from,” She muttered.

₪ ₪ ₪

Tempest sighed, growling at Forest under her breath. Because of Forest’s absence, Dove insisted on guarding them while the others hunted and found a place to sleep. Red had taken Ash, Pearl, Pebble, Ghost, and Blitz hunting while Pine and Smoke went out looking for Forest. Slate and Crack had gone to look for a place to sleep. The rest of the members of the two packs were guarding them. Dove, Echo, Onyx, Spirit, Aspen, and Raven, almost the amount of wolves that had gone hunting, were surrounding them in a small clearing of grass. Well, Echo was fishing in a nearby lake and it looked like Raven, Aspen, and Spirit were talking rather than guarding but Dove and Onyx were watching them like hawks.

“I’m hungry,” Dusk whined.

“It’s getting dark. Don’t we need a better shelter?” Boulder asked.

“If you weren’t listening, Red sent a hunting group and a group to find some shelter!” Tempest growled at them. “Besides, Echo's fishing  right now!”

“Don't growl at your brothers, Tempest!” Dove scolded as Echo barked “I'm not having much luck with fishing though.”

Dusk whined that fish wasn't real food but soon was too tired and curled up next to Dove, Boulder and Tempest following his lead.

When Tempest woke up, she found that everyone was still asleep. She picked her way past them and went looking for a place to rest until the others woke up. She also wanted to be able to see the patrols when they arrived. Tempest wandered around for a bit before choosing a spot near a cliff that overlooked the path up to the small grassy clearing when she realized the sun was already climbing the sky. Dove and the others must have stayed up really late if they are still sleeping! She thought.

She lay there for a bit before realizing there were two odd-shaped rocks on the path below her. Not only were they odd, but they were moving!

That's Forest! Tempest realized as the two wolves, one big one small, came closer to the cliff.

“But who is the wolf next to her?” Tempest wondered out loud. “She didn't bring a Dawn Pack wolf, did she?”

As Forest and the other wolf came closer, Tempest saw one of the patrols climbing the steep terrain behind him. Forest and the other wolf - probably a Dawn Pack wolf - seemed out of sight from the patrol, but the patrol was much faster as Forest kept stopping, as if she was falling over. Oh no! If that patrol is the hunting patrol, the Eclipse Pack will tear the wolf with Forest apart! Tempest thought. Smoke might be mad too, but I think he would brag first. Tempest thought with a sigh. And by the time he’s done, Pine would give the wolf a chance to explain themselves to Red.

Tempest watched the patrol - four or five wolves, she decided - as they slowly caught up to Forest and the wolf with her. Suddenly, Forest started running, the wolf following close behind. Had Forest spotted the patrol? Did that mean the patrol had spotted them? After a long wait, she ran to the end of the pathway to greet Forest.

“Finally! Do you know how close you were to the patrol?!” Tempest shouted, realizing her mistake a second too late. Nearby, Dove shifted in her sleep.

“What patrol?” Forest asked.

“Nevermind,” Tempest groaned before asking, “Who is she?”

“Oh, this is Rose. She’s from the pack in the forest. She broke me out of a plant cave and we walked here.”

“It was a cage! How many times have I told you that!” Rose barked with annoyance. At that moment, Tempest noticed Dove was fully awake and staring at Rose.

“Thank you for saving Forest, but who are you, and how did you find Forest?!” Dove suddenly growled at Rose.

“You figure out whatever you’re doing. I’m going to bed,” Forest chirped, trotting off.

“You can’t leave just like that! Besides, you slept just a few moments ago!” Rose barked as Dove said “Wake Echo up. I don’t want the Eclipse Pack wolves guarding you.”

“Ok!” Forest said as she barked until Echo was awake and fell asleep, leaving Echo confused and still sleepy.

“We’re back!” Tempest turned and saw the hunting patrol with a big haul of prey. "Don't eat it all! The other patrols will be back soon and they'll want some, too!" Red said cheerfully, before seeing Rose and beckoning her away from the patrol after asking Blitz and Ghost to go look for the other patrols.

Dusk, who had just woken up, yelped in surprise. "When did Forest get here?!" He exclaimed. Tempest explained to Dusk and Boulder that Forest had come back with Rose and had just fallen asleep.

"Let's wake her up! We can tell her it's the next day and she slept through the day!" Boulder barked mischievously. "Even if she finds out, she'll thank us for waking her up when the food came!"

"I don't know… She just walked to the forest and back. That's a pretty long trip," Tempest replied, but Boulder was already prodding Forest awake, disturbing Raven and Aspen and waking them up in the process.

After a lot of grumbling from Forest that she didn't get any sleep, the four of them headed to the pile of prey. Dusk chose a big squirrel, who had even caught a squirrel? Tempest took a small trout - no doubt Echo's catch - and Forest shared some mountain goat with Boulder.

“This tastes a bit like deer, or maybe beaver or elk, or moose, or fish, or squirrel, or-” Forest rambled.

“Fish and moose don’t even taste similar!” Boulder barked at Forest, a glint of laughter in his eyes.

“Yes they do,” Forest said innocently. Tempest somehow managed to keep a straight face.

Then, Forest filled them in on what had happened while the four of them waited for the other patrols to return and Onyx and Spirit, who were somehow still sleeping, to wake up.

Onyx and Spirit woke up just as Blitz led the patrols to the makeshift camp. Blitz and Onyx immediately spotted Rose, the Dawn Pack wolf, talking with Aspen and promptly exploded.

“WHY IS A DAWN PACK WOLF HERE?!” Blitz howled. "AND WHY WERE YOU TALKING TO HER?!”

“I came here with Forest,” Rose replied, her fur turning into a weird spiky looking material as she glared at Blitz.

“And I told Aspen to talk to Rose so that we could get some answers,” Raven said, standing up.

Huh, Tempest thought. It suddenly feels warmer… Hold on, WHY IS FOREST JUST LAYING THERE?!

As she noticed that, she also noticed Ghost’s head poke out of a nearby boulder, causing many wolves to yelp in surprise as Pebble started pushing the Eclipse Pack wolves around, not having seen Ghost. She saw Boulder slowly disappear into the rock Ghost had appeared from and she didn’t seem to be able to locate Slate. Red was shouting at everyone to calm down as Crack kept accidentally scaring wolves as he walked up behind them. Pearl and Ash were shouting that they were being too loud and Pine was jumping over groups of wolves. All of a sudden, Tempest couldn’t see anything but a dark smoky fog all around her. She felt a light breeze as Dove whizzed past her.  She yelped as someone suddenly came crashing into her.

“Get out!” Echo barked at her. Echo started pushing her in one direction. Tempest followed Echo and soon they burst out of the darkness.

“What’s going on in there?” Forest asked. “It’s very foggy.”

“STOP USING YOUR ABILITIES!” Red howled, causing the dark fog to disappear immediately.

Everyone stared at Red as Spirit dashed around, trying to heal their wounds.

“Red? There’s a small group of wol-” Pearl tried to say.

“Nevermind, it’s not very foggy,” Forest declared loudly, interrupting Pearl.

“This is my pack and Rose is my guest, so unless the whole Dawn Pack comes to attack us, I’m not letting you attack her,” Red barked at Blitz.

“Red!” Pearl barked. “The Dawn Pack’s here.”

Forest looked up as the Dawn Pack marched into the makeshift camp, Orchid at the lead. The group was an assortment of brown wolves, plus five identical-looking wolves. Orchid looked around the camp, then headed towards Blitz.

“Where’s Rose?” Orchid said smoothly, glaring straight at Blitz.

“Right behind you,” Rose said, slinking up beside Orchid. “What are you here for?”

“A negotiation, and you,” Orchid said. “You just coming over here was a great excuse to come.”

“So, you’re fine that I just walked out of camp? Usually, you’ll have my pelt,” Rose smirked, and the two wolves glared at each other for a while. Forest yawned, then moved next to Tempest to sit out the talk.

“Hey, you know what happened while there was all that smoke?” Forest asked, laying down.

“I don’t know, I didn’t see anything,” Tempest replied. Then there was a commotion.

Orchid and Blitz were glaring at each other, tails swishing, obviously angry. Forest didn’t know why, but suddenly, everyone was alert.

“Well,” Orchid said. “That was the best offer I had for you.”

“It wasn’t a very good offer,” Blitz replied.

Rose rolled her eyes. “For some reason, I agree with him. Become beta of your pack by giving up my own pack? Definitely not,” Rose said. Orchid glared at her.

“Really? That’s what you call a negotiation?” Smoke barked, and Forest noticed it was getting a little foggy again.

Orchid crouched down, flicking her tail. One of the identical looking wolves attacked Smoke, then the same cloud from earlier appeared, except this time, Forest was in the cloud. There were a few yips of surprise, followed by an “oof” as Forest ran into someone. 

“Sorry!” Forest yelped to whoever was in front of her, then stumbled the other way, trying to find her way out of the cloud. Suddenly, she tripped over several objects on the ground, then noticed that the grass in the camp was ridiculously tall. She flicked her tail, trying to find a way out, then attempted to navigate the tall grass, hearing yelps and grunts as she ran into some wolves and they ran into her. 

“Smoke! Stop it!” Someone, maybe Raven, Forest didn’t know, shouted. The smoke instantly all cleared away, leaving the tall grass. 

Suddenly, there was something bright and hot devouring the grass. Some wolves whined in panic while a wolf that looked like a badger- no, Talon- raced into the bright thing. Forest ran over to it too, sticking her nose cautiously up to it. 

“Yikes!” She squealed, drawing back. “ It’s really hot!” Then, someone grabbed her tail and pulled her back. 

“DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS!” Dove shrieked at her though a mouthful of fur, dragging her even further away. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING SO CLOSE TO THAT!”

“Close to what? What is that, anyway?” Forest asked as she was shoved in a corner to find Tempest, Boulder, and Dusk there. 

“That’s fire,” Boulder said matter of factly. “You know, that thing that sometimes consumes the forest and makes it all black. How did you not know about it?”

“You didn’t even know about it until now, when I just told you,” Tempest grumbled. 

“What is that?” Dusk whined, looking up. 

“Fire, of course,” Forest replied. 

“No, that wolf in the sky,” Dusk said. The pups and Dove looked up to see that, yes, there actually was a wolf in the sky. 

“Who is that?” Boulder asked. 

“Somebody from the Dawn Pack, I think,” Tempest replied. 

“I already knew that,” Boulder said hotly. “ I mean, what is their name and how are they walking in the sky? Last time I checked, that wasn’t possible.”

“Last time I checked, which is right now, it is possible,” Dusk pointed out.

“Of course, I know that,” Boulder said. “There’s a flying wolf in my face right now.”

“Pups, stop arguing,” Dove barked. “We have a bigger problem than flying wolves. How do we put the fire out?”

“With water?” Tempest said.

“That’s a great idea, but it currently isn’t raining,” Dove pointed out. 

But as Dove spoke, it started raining. And, from somewhere, a wave of water appeared, drowning out the fire and leaving the air smelling weird and crackling sounds coming from the spot where the fire used to be. 

“Well, that’s very odd,” Forest announced, then started to shake off water from the wave. 

“For once, I agree with Forest. That is weird,” Dusk said. “But I’m wet and Forest is not helping by spraying all that water, plus it’s getting cold.” He whined. “Didn’t the patrol find a new camp?”

They all walked out of the corner to find that Blitz and Orchid were glaring at each other from across the space that had been cleared by the fire. Forest noticed that the Dawn Pack’s group had gotten larger- there were at least eight of the identical wolves now, which Forest found odd. 

“Weren’t there five of the identical wolves?” Forest asked Boulder, and he shrugged. 

“I think so.” He said. “Although, I wasn’t counting. But there are definitely more.”

“Dawn Pack, retreat!” Orchid ordered. “And this is not a surrender, Blitz. I came for negotiation, not fighting.” She growled, leading her pack away.

Immediately, a pale wolf started running around, and as Forest watched, scorch marks disappeared and scratches closed themselves. She bounded over to Smoke, who was wisely under a bush that provided a little bit of protection under the rain. 

“How’s that wolf healing everyone? How come that one wolf could go into fire but Dove won’t let me near it? What was that wolf in the sky?” She asked, then opened her mouth to say more, but Smoke beat her to it. 

“Healing is Spirit’s power, I think Talon has fire resistance powers, and Wren’s power is flying or something.” He responded. 

“Okay, thanks!” Forest yipped, then walked over to Boulder and Dusk. Forest reported her findings to them as they watched Spirit run around, trying to heal everyone’s wounds at once. 

“This rain is getting me soaked. When do you think it’s going to stop?” Dusk complained. 

“I don’t know. I can’t predict the weather,” Boulder told him. But as he said it, the rain started to go out until the sky was clear again, a deep blue with no clouds in the sky.

“Well, the rain’s stopped,” Forest pointed out. 

“Quite obviously,” Boulder said, rolling his eyes. 

“Which means that Dusk can stop complaining and I can stop getting wet,” Forest continued, then started to shake her fur out again. 

“Ick, Forest,” Dusk complained. “You’re getting me even more wet.”

₪ ₪ ₪

Rain began to fall from the sky. Tempest’s littermates were talking, but she wasn’t paying attention. Something else had caught her attention. There it was! A gray tail with sky blue patches swished from behind the rock Ghost had been in. She saw a silver and white muzzle a moment later as a huge wave of water drowned out the roaring fire. As soon as the Dawn Pack left, Tempest ran up to Pearl.

“Pearl, you heard the wolf who made it rain, right?” Tempest asked after sneaking away from her littermates.

“There were two. They left while no one was looking but I can still hear their paw steps,” Pearl answered. “I want to find out what they’re doing here, don’t you?”

“Can we go now? While everyone is distracted?”

“I thought that was Forest’s thing,” Pearl said jokingly. “No, I’ll just tell Red that I’m taking you training.”

After talking to a distracted Red, they set off, using Pearl’s ability to track the two wolves down. Soon, Pearl told her to stop, thinking that something was off as she could no longer hear the two wolves paw steps, nor any other sounds of a wolf. They slowly crept up to the place Pearl had stopped hearing the wolves, careful to crouch behind any rocks around. They hadn’t gone far when they stopped again in front of a large boulder. This time, it was because of some sort of border in front of them. It was clear but solid, and they hadn’t known it was there until they bumped into it. They pushed it, trying to break the border. Just as Tempest was going to give up, it gave way, giving Tempest a sensation similar to being drenched in water. Immediately, Tempest heard sounds of arguing.

“Look!” Pearl whispered to her.

Tempest peeked at the area behind the boulder and realized the arguing was coming from four wolves that were definitely not there before, two of which were the ones Tempest had spotted at camp. The biggest wolf was dark gray with a lighter colored belly and dark amber eyes. Then there was the other wolf Tempest hadn’t seen earlier. The second she wolf was dark brown with white paws and green eyes. Then there were the two wolves from before. They were about the same size, one light gray with sky blue patches and a sort of bluish eyes and the other silver colored with white stripes on her muzzle and blue eyes. The dark gray she-wolf was arguing with the silver and white she-wolf.

“Why did you do that?” The dark gray wolf asked.

“It would have taken over the whole forest, Sparrow!” The silver and white wolf argued.

“We aren't even near the forest,” Sparrow said mildly.

“Better safe than sorry!”

“You and Jay are the least stealthy wolves ever. I'm sure someone followed you.”

Jay must be the gray and blue wolf, Tempest thought.

“I think putting out the fire wasn't a bad idea but it was still dangerous, Juniper,” The dark brown wolf added.

“Fine I'll do a quick-”

“Don't announce it!” Sparrow interrupted. “Just do it!”

Suddenly, Tempest was swept off her paws as she was washed away from her cover behind the boulder, pushed by a big wave, Pearl close behind. All four wolves stared at Tempest and Pearl as the two of them tried to shake the water out of their fur.

“See! I told you someone would follow you!” Sparrow said.

“It's not our fault they followed us!” Juniper whined.

“That's not important anymore!” The dark brown wolf barked. “They're here, now what?”

“Maybe we can take them back?” Jay suggested.

“They might tell everyone,” The dark brown wolf said.

“Who are you? Why are there more wolves on our territory?” Pearl asked the four of them.

“Oh! You’re Mountain Pack!” The dark brown wolf realized.

“We're loners. We used to be part of the Lunar Pack,” Jay replied.

“What's the Lunar Pack?" Tempest asked.

“That was what the Eclipse and Dawn Pack was before they split up for the war,” Juniper said.

“Why did you leave?” Tempest asked.

“Because of the war of course,” Sparrow said.

“What war?” Pearl asked.

“Holly can explain,” Sparrow answered.

“Me? Why me?” Holly asked before sighing and giving a short summary. “Umm… the alpha and beta of our pack - the Lunar Pack - were killed in an avalanche and both Blitz and Orchid wanted to be the next leader. They started getting aggressive and both gathered supporters, and the pack split into two packs. The groups started fighting so we left secretly,” Holly rambled.

“Er… can you explain what you just said? Slowly?” Pearl asked Holly.

“There was a terrible accident where our alpha and beta were killed. That caused Blitz and Orchid to fight for the position of alpha. Their fighting caused the pack t-” Tempest could still see Holly's mouth moving but she suddenly couldn't hear what the dark brown she-wolf was saying. Sparrow told Holly something before all four wolves disappeared from sight as well.

“What just happened?” Tempest asked.

“I don't know,” Pearl answered. "Maybe we can come back later to check if they’ve come back but we’ve been out too long and Dove will get worried soon. Let's get back to camp.”

The two of them went back to camp, and Tempest found out that one of the patrols that were sent out before the commotion with the Dawn Pack had found a suitable camp. 

“When are we going?” Tempest asked her litter mates.

“Right now,” Crack said, walking up behind her using his ability and scaring Tempest and Boulder, who was also facing away, out of their fur.

“WHYoofmoveit Tempest!” Boulder yipped as Tempest accidentally pounced on him.

After that fright, Red and Blitz gathered the pack and set off for their new camp. It wasn’t super far, but it was pretty well hidden with some tall grass covering up the entrance of their new camp. The entrance was just big enough for the Eclipse Pack wolves to walk through without crouching. The camp was a large clearing in a tall stone hill. It was covered on all sides with a steep cliff except for two entrances, the other one smaller than the one they had come through. She assumed the second had a stream because she could hear rushing water but there was none in sight.

The area was much bigger than the ‘camp’ the Dawn Pack had overgrown and then been burnt down. There was a large clearing of grass that covered half the ground. The other half was stone. A large boulder stood right next to the larger entrance. It looked perfect for Blitz or Red to call pack meetings. A lone tree as well as two bushes were somehow surviving in a small crack in the stone, surprisingly quite far from the grass clearing. There were also two places that would be a suitable den - one a cave on the stone side and the other a tunnel on the grassy side.

I wonder if that tunnel is part of the big tunnel system Ash was living in? Tempest wondered. Hopefully it doesn’t collapse like the other tunnel did though… Tempest thought. And hopefully this camp doesn’t get found.

Forest was jostled awake by someone nudging her. 

“Hrmp,” She responded.

“Come on Forest, I need you outside,” Some told her, and she rolled over, yawning. She opened an eye to see Raven above her. 

“Okay, I’m coming,” She said, then got up. Raven beckoned over Tempest, Boulder, and Dusk were, and they all got up and followed.

“Isn’t Dove gonna freak out when she finds out that we left camp?” Tempest asked.

“No, I told her that I was going to take you out to tell you something,” Raven replied as they walked through the tall grass that hid the entrance.

“Where are we going?” Forest asked as they all sat down around Raven.

“Depends on what you decide.” Raven said, sitting down. “But here is what I can tell you: you will find answers in the caves.”

“Okay, then let’s go to the caves!” Forest said, jumping up.

“Um, shouldn’t we tell Dove or someone?” Dusk asked, looking worried. “We might need someone to come look for us if we get trapped in the caves.”

“And we might die,” Boulder added.

“Yeah. Especially that,” Dusk said.

“We can take Ash,” Tempest pointed out.

“Ash won’t come along for this. You four and one wolf from each of the separated packs will come,” Raven said.

“Okay, you and us and Rose or someone can come,” Forest said, jumping up. “Let’s go!”

“I’m not going,” Raven said. “As Dusk pointed out, someone needs to find you guys if you get lost and explain to Dove once you go in the caves.”

“So who from the Eclipse Pack is going to come?” Boulder asked.

“You’re going,” Raven told a bush.

“Um, what?” Tempest asked. But just then, Onyx came out, glaring at Raven.

“How did you know I was there?” He asked her.

“No need to tell my secrets. Now, are you five going or not?” Raven asked them.”

“Well, I have some questions,” Dusk said. “One, how are you sure that we will find answers in the caves? And two, we really aren’t looking for any answers right now.”

“First, my power is seeing the future. And second, it is the answer for the overall problem,” Raven told them.

“Okay, thank you for being so vague,” Boulder said. “And where is number six?”

“You’ll meet them along the way, so don’t bother looking for them. They will come to you if they wish to do so,” Raven said. “Now, you should go or you might miss your opportunity.” Then, she walked pack to camp, leaving the five of them alone.

“Great, that was really helpful. How are we supposed to get in the caves anyway?” Boulder asked.

“There’s a tunnel in the camp,” Tempest pointed out. “It could connect to the cave system.”

“Wait, are we actually doing this?” Dusk whined. “Come on, Tempest! You have some sense! Onyx, I don’t know how sensible you are, but you have to be at least more sensible than Forest!”

“To be honest, I’m kind of curious as to what Raven meant for the answer to the overall problem,” Onyx said. “The solution might get rid of the Dawn Pack or such.” 

Dusk turned to Tempest. “You think we shouldn’t go, right? Also, Dove would kill us if we did!”

“Well, I kind of doubt that we should go into the caves, I guess,” Tempest said nervously.

“See!” Dusks said triumphantly. “Now we can’t go!”

“Too bad Dusk, majority rules,” Forest told him. “Boulder, Onyx and I will go. You and Tempest can stay behind if you two want to.”

“I’ll go,” Tempest said. “Raven said there should be six of us. It's all of us or none of us, and I hope wolf number six shows up soon.”

Dusk groaned. “Okay, okay, fine. If all of you are going, I guess I have to go.”

“Great!” Forest yipped. “Okay, into the tunnel we go!”

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Onyx asked, exasperated.

The wolves had been walking for a bit, meandering around aimlessly. Dusk had tried not to lead them in circles, since he was the only one who could see anything, but sight didn’t really seem to help for navigation.

“Um, the thing is Onyx, we’re just walking around hoping to find something. And- who are you?!” Dusk squeaked.

“Uh, what?” Forest asked, swinging her paw around in the air. “Dusk, what is it?” Forest felt her paw collide with something short, and she heard Tempest yelp. 

“Who’s there?” Another voice asked, not any of her littermates or Onyx. Forest instantly recognized the voice.

“Hi, Rose!” She barked, then turned in circles trying to find the Dawn Pack she-wolf, and colliding with someone who she guessed was Boulder by the sound of the yelp. “What are you doing down here?”

“Dawn Pack wolf? Where?!” Onyx barked, and Forest felt something ginormous and furry crash into her. She squeaked then tripped into Tempest, who got squashed under her, and she heard Boulder yelp again. 

“Onyx, stop running everywhere!” Forest heard Dusk squeal. “Oh, why did I agree to this?”

“Well, this is a surprise to walk into,” Forest heard Rose say. “What is going on, anyway? Is that a Eclipse Pack wolf I hear?”

Onyx growled, but Dusk barked first. “Can’t you two just not go at each other for a bit? Once we get out of here, you two are free to do whatever you want!”

“And Onyx?” Tempest added. “You knew there would be a Dawn Pack wolf in this adventure and you still agreed to come.”

“That was before I knew the Dawn Pack wolf was Rose,” Onyx grumbled.

Rose snorted. “Yeah, sure, I’ll agree to that if that other wolf does.”

“Fine,” Onyx said. “I’ll agree not to try to attack her, and my name is Onyx, for your information.”

“Great!” Forest barked. “Problem temporarily solved. Now-” But then she cut off. In the corner of her eye, she could see an amber glow coming from a tunnel to her right.

“Uh, do the rest of you see a creepy orange glow?” Rose asked them. “Or is it just me?”

“Let’s go find out what it is!” Forest exclaimed, then started to run towards the glow. She heard pawsteps behind her and she knew that the others were following.

They all emerged into a cave, where they could see the source of the glow. It was a rock, lying in the middle of the cave. Forest would have thought it was a normal rock, except for the weird glow it gave off. The dim, sunset-colored rock lit up the entire cave. The rock was a normal gray, around as thick as Forest’s tail and long as Dusk’s tail - Dusk had the shortest tail. The rest of the cave had weird little mushrooms that were glowing an odd green color.

“Okay, who’s grabbing that?” Tempest asked. “Also, isn’t that the rock from the stories? It makes your power stronger.”

“If it is,” Boulder said. “I’m gonna say that I don’t get it, since then I would just disappear, Dusk might see really brightly and become blind, Tempest might start hearing birds from all the way from the forest, and Forest is too clumsy to grab it.”

“And I might impale everyone,” Rose said.

Everyone looked at Onyx. He looked right back at them, then sighed. “Fine, I’ll get it,” He said a little reluctantly. “It’s not like it can do anything too bad to my power.” 

“Wait!” Tempest yelped, but before anybody could say anything else, Onyx grabbed the rock. 

₪ ₪ ₪

As soon as Onyx grabbed the strange stone, Tempest heard very quiet rumbling noises. “We have to go NOW!” She shouted to everyone. “The cave is going to collapse!”

Dusk immediately led them the way they had come. Somehow, he seemed to remember all of the twists and turns they had come from. As the group scurried in the dark, desperately trying to find their way out, the rumbling noises got increasingly louder. Tempest pushed whoever was in front of her to go faster, and it didn’t help her anxiety that the wolf kept tripping, leading her to believe the wolf was Forest.  After what seemed like forever, Tempest finally saw light ahead.

“The end of the tunnel!” She barked, not meaning to say it out loud. At that point, chunks of debris were falling behind them, much too close to Tempest’s tail. Suddenly, at the worst possible moment, Forest tripped, just as a large chunk of the roof fell, separating Forest and Tempest from the rest of the six. As the cave started to crumble, debris clouded Tempest’s vision, but she was sure that she was doing to die as the entire roof collapsed and she closed her eyes.

After a few moments, Tempest opened her eyes, wondering if she was dead, or she had somehow survived. She then realized she was looking at a very similar looking place that had been falling apart just a moment before. She stood there in a daze, listening to the voices echoing through the cave, before realizing that only Forest was beside her. She panicked. Where were Onyx, Rose, Dusk, and Boulder? And if it wasn’t their voices she was hearing, who was talking? She found out the answer to her second question very soon as two wolves walked towards them, seeming to be arguing.

“Hurry up Cedar!” One said.

“Can’t we stay here a bit longer Hawk?” the second wolf asked, sounding muffled as he was farther back.

“No! They’ll notice we’re gone soon!” The wolf called Hawk said. “We have to go now-” He froze when he saw Tempest and Forest.

Please don’t say anything bad Forest, Tempest prayed.

“H- how?” Hawk asked.

“Yeah, what are you doing here, Acacia and Breeze? And how did you find the tunnels?” Hawk’s friend, Cedar, asked, saving Tempest. She wasn’t sure how to answer Hawk’s question, nor did she know who Acacia and Breeze were and why Cedar had called them that, so she answered Cedar’s second question instead.

“We were going to rest near the wall and when we tried to lean on it, we fell into the tunnel,” Tempest lied, swishing her tail nervously.

“Oh! It’s almost dark out! We’d better get back to camp!” Cedar yipped.

“Let’s sleep out today. We do it often so they won’t notice,” Hawk said, quickly adding the last part when Tempest looked confused.

“But won’t they look for me and F- Acacia?” Tempest asked, hoping Forest was the one who looked like Acacia. Hawk gave her the slightest nod and Tempest realized that the gray he wolf knew they weren’t Breeze and Acacia. Hopefully she could talk to him when the others were asleep.

They found a nice place to stay for the night. Forest fell asleep almost immediately but Hawk said that he would try to hunt something small for the morning. Tempest volunteered to go with him, using the chance to find out more. She told him what had happened before asking him where they were, who Acacia and Breeze were, if he had an ability, if his friend had an ability, and more. When she asked what pack he was part of, he answered ‘Lunar Pack’ and she froze in her tracks.

“Do you know what the Eclipse Pack or Dawn Pack is?” She asked in a whisper.

“No. Why?” Hawk asked, frowning.

“Before you found us in the tunnel, we were in a time when the Lunar Pack split up into those packs and they were at war,” Tempest yipped.

“There could have been someone who sent you back in time, to the past,” Hawk reasoned. “And don’t worry about getting back. I can help you with that.”

“Maybe we can find out why the war started before going back,” Tempest chirped hopefully. “Is there a way to know what Orchid and Blitz might be thinking?

“Oh! Cedar can get you in their dreams tonight! Then you can watch and see if anything convinces them!” Hawk barked, suddenly adding, “We’d better go back! Cedar’s magic only works as long as they’re asleep, and both of them wake up pretty early.”

“We have to go back now!” Tempest barked in alarm. They raced back to Forest and Cedar, telling Cedar everything before waking Forest up and giving her a brief summary. Cedar explained what they had to do to get in the dreams and sent them in, and just like that, Tempest was plunged into Blitz’s dream.

Forest went into Orchid’s dream, and a strange sensation passed over her. It felt like she shouldn’t be there, that she was entering some place that had been marked off limits for her. But Forest often entered places that were marked off limits, so she continued on.

Forest walked through a cloud of what seemed like nothingness when she found herself crouched behind a bush in a wide, flat field with tall grass. Forest peered around the shrub, her eyes scanning for anything. Then, she saw movement to her left, and she turned her head towards it.

And there was Orchid, stalking a moose that hadn’t been there a second ago. Forest watched as Orchid flicked her tail, then pounced onto the moose. It disappeared into fog, leaving Orchid grumbling about not being able to get any prey around here. Orchid headed the opposite direction that Forest was, and Forest followed, glad that at least she was less clumsy in dreams.

As Orchid and Forest entered a patch of trees that grew close together, a fog started to creep up. Forest didn’t mind it until it started to get thicker and thicker until she could barely see anything in front of her face. She could only follow Orchid because there was a path of small daisies that she had left behind.

Forest was about to walk out from behind a rock that had an infestation of rather large daisies on it when the fog suddenly disappeared. And there, in the middle of a clearing, was Orchid, facing a dark cloud of smoke. Well, Forest couldn’t really just call it a cloud of smoke because it was shaped like a wolf, with glowing amber eyes. Forest ducked back behind the rock, then peered around a clump of daisies.

“You know, you’ll have to prepare yourself to be a leader soon,” The cloud told Orchid. “Blitz wouldn’t be a great candidate, would he? He thinks, but doesn’t really do much, does he?”

“Why would I have to prepare?” Orchid asked the cloud. “Thistle is beta, not me. And so far, Silver is alive and well.” 

“Yes, but not for long,” The cloud told her. “Wake up, and you will see.”

Orchid yelped in surprise, causing blackberries to sprout around Forest. “What? Now? Why?” she barked, then slowly dissolved into mist.

That left Forest, still hidden behind the rock, and the cloud wolf. As Forest watched, the cloud wolf stood there for a few silent seconds, then grinned. It wasn’t a grin like go save Silver and Thistle and you’ll be a hero grin. It was more like a now my evil scheme can go into action grin, which made Forest creeped out. The cloud wolf sat down, looking pleased with themselves.

“Well, my job’s done here," They said to themselves. “No need to stay.” and with that, they started to sink into the shadows, melting into the ground. Immediately, the trees around Forest started to crumble, and so did the ground.

“Uh oh. Nobody told me how to wake up,” Forest said to herself, and then did the only thing she could think of; she bit her own tail.

Forest woke up to see Cedar and Hawk sitting there, waiting. Tempest was still in Blitz’s dream, curled up in a ball of fur.

“Did you find anything?” Cedar asked her, and Forest reported what she had found, and Cedar frowned. “That cloud of dark smoke… I never really got to know what it’s called, but it’s kind of like a dark thought that goes around and tries to make chaos and such. But at least we know what convinced Orchid. Stick a thought in her brain, and it stays there until someone convinces her otherwise.”

“So, should we go and un-persuade her right now?” Forest asked Hawk.

Hawk shook his head. “That might destroy the time sequence,” He told her. “And it might mess up everything. The best thing you can do here is go back to the time you came from, and persuade her that way.”

“So, am I going right now?” Forest asked him.

“Yes, I can send you along right now. I’ll send your littermate along after she wakes up, too,” Hawk told her. “And off you go.”

Forest appeared just as she heard Boulder say, “Are they dead?”

“No, silly,” Forest told him. “We’re right behind you.”

Everyone whirled around to see that Forest was there. Tempest was somehow next to Forest, and she nodded at her.

“I have what I need for Blitz,” She said, “Do you have what you need for Orchid?”

“Yep,” Forest told her. “Let’s go!” She went to run towards the woods, when Tempest tried to drag her back by the tail, except that Forest was stronger, so they just ended up on a tangle on the ground.

“We need to get more wolves to go with us,” she told Forest, spitting out dust. “Just us wouldn’t convince them.”

“Okay, Rose and Boulder come with me. I’ll tell you what I saw along the way,” Forest told the two of them, and the three of them ran towards the trees.

The three of them burst into the Dawn Pack camp, scaring half of the wolves out of their fur. 

“Who’s there?” Orchid called, padding out of a den.

Rose rolled her eyes. “It’s us, of course. Who else would you think it was?”

“You need to call off the war! Or whatever it was called!” Forest barked. “The dark cloud wolf thing is evil, and it was trying to use you to get chaos in the pack!”

Orchid bristled. “Blitz would have been a bad leader, you know,” She snapped.

“I think the wolves in the Eclipse Pack think differently,” Rose pointed out. “They’re still with him.” Orchid still looked unsure, but Rose insisted, and soon she gave in.

“Fine,” She sighed. “Maybe we can talk to Blitz and figure something out.”

“Great!” Forest barked. “We can go back to camp.” 

“Is that really a good idea?” Boulder asked her. “Everyone might freak out.”

“We can wait outside and get your other littermates to convince the Eclipse Pack,” Rose pointed out.

“Okay, problem solved, let’s go!” Forest barked, and turned around to run back to the mountain, when Boulder jumped on her.

“We have to wait for the Dawn Pack to get ready,” he pointed out, climbing off of her.

₪ ₪ ₪

When Tempest entered Blitz’s dream, it felt like she had been dumped into a frozen lake. And when that sensation stopped and Tempest stopped shaking from a cold that didn’t exist, she felt like she was in a place that she shouldn’t be in. It felt like the entire forest was trying to stop her from finding Blitz. Every branch in the dark and murky forest seemed to be trying to slap her and slow her. Each root seemed to catch her paw and trip her. That is until a thick fog surrounded her.

The fog seemed to act like a border, because after she was through it, everything seemed to inch away from her, and she felt even more like she didn’t belong. But she had to find Blitz.

She wandered in the woods until she heard paw steps. They were very quiet, like the wolf was trying to hide or creep up on something. She followed the wolf until they came into view, and nearly yelped out loud. The wolf wasn’t Blitz. In fact, it might not even have been a wolf at all. Its pelt kept changing from a shimmering silver and blue that looked like the night sky to a dark unwelcoming pitch black. Its eyes flickered from an icy blue to a warm amber. Rather than being solid, it seemed to be made of a thick fog.

The smoke wolf walked through some thick ferns and bushes and out of Tempest’s view. She quickly followed it and dove in the bushes for cover. The wolf was sitting near a puddle in a small clearing. Blitz walked out of the ferns and stood in front of the wolf, whose pelt was now the star speckled night sky and whose eyes were a warm amber.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the smoky wolf said in an inviting tone. “We have important matters to discuss. Your alpha and beta will die soon and you must prepare yourself to fight Orchid for the position of alpha.

“Why would Silver and Thistle die?” Blitz asked.

“Orchid will try to kill them in an ‘accident’.”

“She wouldn’t do that, would she?”

“Let me show you…” The smoky wolf said before Tempest was plunged into a vision.

Tempest looked down at her paws- or not her paws. Was she in this vision in Blitz’s perspective? She didn’t have time to think about that as Blitz started moving. He ran towards a cliff that had a mound of rubble under it. He slowed, walking along the cliff until he reached the mound and saw a golden colored paw sticking out. He circled the mound until he noticed he wasn’t alone. His eyes locked with Orchids as other wolves walked towards them. Some wolves Tempest recognized, others she didn’t. But two wolves looked exactly like Forest and herself.

Acacia and Breeze! Tempest thought.

“You killed them!” Orchid howled in fury and grief. 

“I didn’t!” Blitz defended. “Why would I?”

“You came from the path up to the cliff! You must have made the rocks fall on them!” Orchid howled again. Then the vision ended and Tempest was taken back to the dream.

“You see? Orchid will kill Silver and Thorn and then blame it on you!” The smoky wolf said. Blitz just stared in shock. “Well, the night’s ending. Think about what I said.” Blitz turned and walked away just before Tempest got the sensation that she was being pulled apart. She watched as the smoky wolf started disappearing from its paws to ears and she caught the slightest hint of a smile as its pelt turned dark and eyes turned icy. Then Tempest was jolted awake.

Tempest woke up and immediately jumped to her feet, startling both Cedar and Hawk. She described what she had seen after being told that Forest already left.

“Star-pelt wolves are usually future seeing spirits,” Cedar said frowning. “But a dark smoky pelt is a dark thought that creates chaos. I wonder how that thing was both…” He trailed, talking more to himself than Tempest now.

“Can you send me back?” Tempest asked Hawk.

“I'll send you back now,” Hawk yipped before Tempest’s vision went black. Going forwards in time was different from going back. As she sped back to the present, she caught glimpses of what happened after the event. She saw Blitz and Orchid splitting the pack in two, the two groups fighting each other, Hawk and Cedar leaving, then the Lunar pack being frozen in time, and a flash of blinding light.

Tempest appeared just as she heard Boulder say, “Are they dead?”

“No, silly,” Forest chirped. “We’re right behind you.”

Everyone whirled around to see that Tempest and Forest were just behind her.

“I have what I need for Blitz,” Tempest told Forest, “Do you have what you need for Orchid?”

“Yep,” Forest told her. “Let’s go!” Forest ran for the woods but Tempest dragged her back by the tail and they ended up in a heap on the ground.

“We need to get more wolves to go with us,” Tempest barked, spitting out dust. “We won’t be able to convince them alone.”

“Okay, Rose and Boulder come with me. I’ll tell you what I saw along the way,” Forest barked before racing towards the woods again. Tempest sighed but led Dusk and Onyx back to camp after realizing that the collapsed tunnel wasn’t the one in camp, explaining what happened along the way.

When they got to camp, Onyx brought Blitz outside and they somehow managed to convince Blitz. Then, Blitz went back and convinced the Eclipse Pack.

Just as Blitz convinced most of the Eclipse Pack, Forest burst in, her fur standing at end and dirt everywhere. “Hey, the Dawn Pack is outside and they want to talk to you!” She barked at everyone in the camp. “And Orchid wants to talk to you, Blitz!” Boulder walked in behind Forest, sighing.

“Orchid said she would be waiting at ‘The Place’, wherever that is,” he added. Blitz’s fur puffed out and he rushed out of camp. After a lot more time, nervous wolves ruffling their pelts, and wolves bickering among themselves, both Blitz and Orchid came back to camp. They talked to Red briefly before both climbing up the large boulder and waited for the talking to stop.

“Orchid and I have come to an agreement,” Blitz announced. “We’ve talked out our misunderstandings and decided to come together as the Lunar Pack again.”

“However, both Blitz and I will remain alpha and both Talon and Spirit will remain beta,” Orchid barked.

Silence

“Err… Actually, I would like to step down as beta,” Spirit barked. “I want to be a healer. I never wanted to be beta and I never want to be alpha.”

“Then I suppose we will have two alphas, one beta, and a healer,” Blitz declared. “We would also like to announce that the Mountain Pack will share our territory. We will have different camps but we can continue to hunt together and live together,” Blitz added. On that note, the clearing erupted with cheers.

About half a moon had passed, and a Moon Gathering with the Lunar Pack was due. Rowan had informed the pups that a Moon Gathering was an event that happened every full moon where a pack would howl at the moon to communicate with their ancestors. Rowan also informed them that their first gathering would be a Hunter’s Moon, whatever that meant. The pups got to join this one since they had started their training and only pack wolves could take part.

“Race you to that dead tree!” Forest yipped as she ran past Tempest and off towards a twisted tree that grew between two boulders.

“No fair! You got a head start!” Boulder barked as he ran after her, followed by Tempest and Dusk. Suddenly, he disappeared as his fur changed color to match the stone they were running on.

Forest reached the base of the tree and swiftly climbed up, sitting at a fork between two branches. “I win!” She declared, yipping in triumph.

Boulder appeared underneath her, sitting on a root. “No, I won. I was here first.”

“No you weren’t, I-!” Forest retorted, but was cut off by Dove.

“Forest, get back down here, that tree looks like it was struck by lightning and unstable!” Dove was with them in a flash, closely followed by Tempest and a winded Dusk.

“Okay, I’m coming down.” Forest climbed back down, leaping over Boulder on the last branch.

‘How much further is the meeting place?” Dusk whined. “I feel like my paws are going to fall off.”

“Not much further. It should be past the hill those berry bushes are on.” Pine informed them as she padded towards the hill.

“Race you to the bushes!” Boulder suddenly called, and took off.

“You got a head start!” Forest yelped as she took off behind him, Tempest behind her and Dusk whining for them to wait for him. Boulder started to blend in with the stone surface that they were running on, and Forest got an idea and tackled Boulder, sending them both tumbling to the ground, messing up their fur. They wrestled, Boulder winning with more strength, but Forest whacked him in the face with her tail, distracting him.

“I win!” Both of them stopped wrestling to look up at Tempest, who sat by the bushes.

“Hey, that’s not fair! Forest was distracting me!” Boulder complained, getting up and shaking dust from his fur.

“Well, you got a head start.” Forest pointed out.

“So did you with the tree!” Boulder pointed out.

“That was the last race.” Forest said defiantly.

“Pups!” Dove had caught up to them, trailed by an annoyed Dusk. “We’re going to a moon gathering, so behave or else you won’t be coming next time!”  She warned.

“What!” Boulder yelped.

“She can’t do that, can she?” Forest asked as she tried to get the remaining dust off of her pelt.

“Usually, everyone would attend a Moon Gathering but because the meeting place is quite a distance from the camp, some of us will stay to protect it, so yes, she can.” Tempest recalled.

“She shouldn’t be able to do that.” Boulder grumbled.

“It’s Red that decides who gets to go, but Dove can still put in input. And you don’t even know if it’ll be fun yet.” Tempest teased.

Forest sneezed on some dust. “I’m pretty sure it’ll be fun, there’s going to be a lot of wolves there. And we can prank someone if we think it’s getting too boring.”

“No pranks!” Dove called from a few tail’s lengths away.

“We better catch up to them.” Tempest pointed out, and the pups ran after Dove, who was on top of the hill. When they reached the top, they looked down to see that the Lunar Pack had already arrived.

“I see Smoke, I’m going to see if he wants to prank someone.” Forest declared, then raced down the hill after Pine, who was already picking her way down.

“I’ll go after her and make sure she doesn’t cause too much chaos!” Forest heard Boulder call.

Forest looked behind her to see if Boulder was following her, and ended up tripping on a rock, almost falling into a surprised Pine, and tumbled down the rest of the hill. Luckily, Forest had already gone down the rocky and steeper area, and she tumbled over grass and ended up on her back next to a bush.

“I’m okay!” Forest called, twisting back up on her feet.

Boulder ran down to her. “I think Dove just had a heart attack.” he informed her. “FOREST’S OKAY!” he hollered up the hill.

Spirit ran over to them. “Are you hurt, Forest? He asked as he checked Forest over for any injuries.

“Nope!” Forest said, shaking her pelt out and spraying Boulder with grass and dirt. “I’m all good! But I think I should run before Dove comes and smothers me.”

“Too late.” Boulder said as Dove streaked towards them, a blur of gray fur.

“FOREST WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ARE YOU OKAY!?!” Dove barked as she ran circles around Forest, checking her.

“Yeah- Hey!” Forest tried to dodge Dove as she tried to groom her. “I’m good!”

“You have a giant clump of grass on your side.” Tempest told her as she passed, heading towards a clump of wolves.

Forest shook herself again, dislodging what she assumed as the clump that Tempest was talking about. “Am I good now?”

Dove looked as if she wanted to groom Forest more, but was cut off by the three leaders announcing that the Moon Gathering was beginning.

Forest ran towards Tempest, and was joined by Dusk and Boulder, then waited for whatever was going to occur during a Moon Gathering.

₪ ₪ ₪

After witnessing Forest’s chaotic entrance, Tempest ran over to her mentors, Aspen and Rowan, who were seated with their littermates Cypress and Hazel. There had been some changes to Tempest and her littermates’ mentors. Red was still Ash’s mentor but Slate and Crack mentored Boulder, Forest was being mentored by Pine and Wren, Dusk’s mentors were Ghost and Smoke(because Smoke insisted he could help), and Rowan and Aspen were mentoring Tempest. Sometimes the five apprentices trained in fighting and hunting near the Mountain Pack’s camp, but every few days they met up with their mentors to practice their abilities. Lost in thought, she was vaguely aware of the three alphas beginning the gathering.

"Did you know that wolves that don't have magic have much smaller packs than us?" Rowan asked, startling Tempest out of her thoughts. That was Rowan's usual greeting, an interesting fact. Tempest wondered what the he-wolf would do when he ran out of facts.

"I didn't," Tempest replied.

"Wolves without magic make packs that consist of only their close family," Rowan added.

"Rowan, we're about to start and you're telling weird facts?" Cypress asked jokingly.

"Let him have his fun, Cypress," Hazel interrupted. "You know how much he likes it."

Cypress opened his mouth to say more, but three howls pierced the clearing, cutting him off. The group looked up to see that Red, Blitz, and Orchid had begun the gathering, and lifted their heads to the sky to join in. A chorus of howls rang in the clearing as wolves lifted their heads to the sky. Tempest also joined in, looking to the sky and letting out a high-pitched howl. Suddenly, her eyesight blurred. When they readjusted, she found herself in a grassy clearing in front of a huge group of wolves. The wolves' pelts shone with a light much like the moon, blanketing the clearing with a silver glow. Some of them were slightly see-through. Spirits! Tempest realized. They began to chant a few verses, weaving them into the echoing sound of howls.

"Night and day, shadow and light

Tree of stone, bird of flight.

All is one and one is all

Two packs, four lives

Will bring the end

But only one will survive," they chanted. When the group ended, some of the spirits faded away, but most stayed behind, heading to the two packs to talk. During this time, two adults and two middle-aged wolves approached Tempest and her littermates, who had quickly found themselves next to each other. Tempest recognized them pretty quickly.

“Hawk! Cedar! You look different,” Forest remarked, saying Tempest’s thoughts aloud.

“We’ve definitely grown since you two last saw us,” Hawk answered, grinning.

“Breeze and Acacia?” Tempest guessed, looking at the she-wolves behind Hawk who looked hauntingly similar to Forest and herself. They looked only a few moons older than the two, but they held an aura of experience.

"That's us!" Acacia confirmed.

"Who?" Dusk asked.

"And why are you here?" Boulder added.

"You don't have any dead family that you've met, so we figured we could come instead," Cedar explained, skipping Dusk's question.

"And we can introduce you to other spirits if you'd like," Acacia offered. She started before anyone could answer. "Those two, the mother and pup with Slate, are Arctic and Hail, Slate's mate and pup-"

"Ok, that's great and all, but why do you two look exactly like Tempest and Forest?" Boulder asked.

"And who are you?" Dusk asked again.

"We are past members of the Lunar Pack. We weren't frozen in time like everyone else, Hawk explained, adding, "Well, Acacia and Breeze died before the freezing."

"Don't brag about not being killed, Hawk," Breeze grumbled.

"Back to the questions, guys," Cedar interrupted, adding, "Sorry. We get off track pretty quickly."

"Well, to answer your question, we don't know why they look the same. They just do!" Hawk answered.

“That doesn’t answer my question!” Boulder argued.

“The important question is what that chanting thing was!” Forest cut in.

“For once, Forest is saying the sensible thing,” Tempest agreed. The four spirits looked at each other.

“That was a prophecy. We don’t know exactly when it’s talking about. It could be years from now, when you’ve joined us as spirits,” Hawk explained.

“That… sounds weird. Us as spirits? Like the floaty, silvery, chanty wolves that you guys are?” Forest asked.

“Yep! Everyone becomes a spirit. Hmm, although if you’re evil you’ll have a different glow. But don’t worry! You shouldn’t be dying anytime soon! Or becoming evil anytime soon. At least, I hope not. Although I guess it could happen at any time. The dying, not the turning evil. Probably not the turning evil anyways,” Cedar rambled.

“You know that’s not very comforting?” Boulder countered, stopping Cedar’s trail of thoughts.

“The point is that you have nothing to be worried about. The prophecy might not happen for years to come, but the spirits are pretty sure it's about the war between the Lunar Pack," Hawk clarified.

"Well, that's good to know!" Tempest exclaimed. The group talked through the rest of the night until a strong gust of wind blew through the thick forest surrounding half of the clearing, signaling the end to the Moon Gathering.

Holly and Sparrow raced through the forest. Back at the den were Jay and Juniper were waiting for their report of the ‘Lunar War’, as the two younger sisters called it. As they neared the den, Holly let out a short string of howls and barks to signal their arrival. The two appeared from their well-concealed den within seconds, apprehensive of the news they brought.

“How did it go?” Juniper asked.

“The Lunar War is over! They joined into one pack again!” Sparrow exclaimed, giving Juniper hardly any time to finish her sentence.

“Both of the mini-packs kept their alphas, but one of their betas stepped down,” Holly added.

“So… the Lunar Pack has two alphas and one beta?” Juniper asked.

“It’s a bit weird, but if it works it works,” Sparrow answered.

“Do you think it’s time to go back?” Jay asked.

Holly shook her head. “I want to see if they can maintain the pack with two alphas. It might be better to keep living alone if they end up at each other’s throats again.”

  “We might join eventually, but I would rather not fake our death again if another war breaks out,” Sparrow added.

“For now, it’s late and we should be getting to bed,” Holly finished.

“What?! Why? Just because you’re a few moons older doesn’t mean you get to stay up later than us!” Jay complained.

“Isn’t that exactly what being older means?” Sparrow countered.

“Besides, we’re all going to bed now. It has nothing to do with age,” Holly went on. Sparrow made a face.

“Ha! That’s what you get for siding with Holly!” Juniper teased.

“Remember, we probably won’t join the Lunar Pack again,” Holly reminded them as the four lay down and closed their eyes. Despite the reminder, all four thought the same thing as they drifted off into sleep. The war is over, and we’re going home soon.