Okay, just letting you know that I want to become an author one day, and this is supposed to be my first book. I decided to share it with everyone, too. Since I decided not to put chapters in it, I decided to just pause at a part and then paste it. Enjoy! (Forgive me for some errors you spot in the story, too.)
Moderators, if this is too long, feel free to lock this and warn me as punishment.
It was a crisp and bright day in the Red Bark Forest.
Otsanda, a one year-old she-wolf, was a deep shade of gray with two pools of blue for her eyes. She wagged her tail wildly as she savored the flesh of a doe. Her first hunt was a success. And her pack had just moved into the rendezvous den a few weeks ago. It was about time for her to leave to find a mate, but Otsanda didn’t know this.
“Congratulations, my daughter.” Her father said. Her father had a deep shade of gray too. His eyes were two ponds of yellow.
“Thank you, Father.” Otsanda replied.
Father Wolf licked her cheek. “You have done very well on your first hunt today.”
Otsanda giggled. “I know, I know.”
“You’re mother will be proud too, when we return home.” Father Wolf said softly. Otsanda smiled.
After eating the doe, the two wolves began heading home.
“Nashoba, is that you?” Mother Wolf called as she the smell of her daughter and mate whiffed through her nostrils. Mother Wolf had pure white fur and two ponds of sky blue for her eyes.
“Yes, Makoce. It’s me.” Father Wolf answered as they appeared into the sight of Mother Wolf.
“How was the hunt, Nashoba?” Mother Wolf questioned.
“It went very well. It was successful! Otsanda’s first hunt was well!” Father Wolf exclaimed.
Mother Wolf nuzzled Otsanda. “Wonderful, Otsanda. Truly wonderful.”
Otsanda wagged her tail. The best thing about being an only pup was that she received all the attention. She used to have siblings, but her parents said that they all died at birth and Otsanda was the lucky one.
“Thank you, Mother Wolf.” Otsanda gave her a warm smile.
“You two returned in time. I sensed that a terrible storm is coming. We should stay put.” Mother Wolf explained. Otsanda and Father Wolf nodded.
Then Otsanda decided to grab a snatch of sleep.
Otsanda found a pile of leaves and arranged them into a cozy position, and soon plopped down on them. The leaves crunched as Otsanda lied there.
She licked her nose before grooming herself. She let her pink tongue caress her cloudy gray fur. After cleaning herself, she let her eyes droop. And before she knew it, she was asleep.
Two hours later, when Otsanda awoke, she arose from her pile of leaves. She yawned and stretched. Otsanda scanned the area. It had stormed, indeed. Trees were shedding raindrops, the dirt was soggy and muddy, and the leaves she had been resting on where squishy and soaked. Otsanda searched the area for her parents.
“Mother Wolf, Father Wolf, where are you?” She shouted. She began sniffing the ground, hoping to get a whiff of her parents’ scent.
After a few minutes, her parents approached.
“Otsanda, what’s wrong?” Mother Wolf asked.
“I-I couldn’t find you. I became really scared…” Otsanda replied, trembling with fear.
“Otsanda, the time has come. You must leave.” Father Wolf said painfully.
“Why do I have to leave? You don’t like me anymore?” Otsanda gazed into her father’s eyes.
“Of course I do. Your mother and I love you so much. But you have to go. We’ve just realized you’re a dispersal wolf now.” Father Wolf said.
“What do I have to do when I leave you?” Otsanda asked, still trembling.
“You’re going to have to find a mate. And then start a pack with that wolf. And then your pups will leave to find a mate and so on. You’re in charge of the genetic chain now. If you fail, then the genetic chain will be smashed into millions of tiny bits that can never be repaired.”
Mother Wolf smiled at her. “You can handle this. Finding a mate won’t take that long.”
Otsanda grinned, but was still reluctant to leave her parents.
“Okay, fine. I will leave. I’ll miss you both.”
Her parents gave her a heartwarming smile. “Goodbye, Otsanda. Please be careful.”
Otsanda nodded and sprinted away without another word.
She could tell her beloved home was getting tinier and tinier.
When she was far enough from her home, she collapsed onto the ground.
‘I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused…’ She thought. Otsanda stood back up. She went onto the top of a hill. She emitted a howl.
‘Aaaararrooooooooooooo!’
She looked around, expecting a he-wolf to come behind and say, “Hi there. Let’s be mates”, but that didn’t happen. Otsanda sprinted down the hill, sniffing around for other wolves. She smelt wolves a mile or two away, but could tell that those wolves belonged to a pack, and that she wouldn’t be welcomed to just go barging into some pack’s territory in search of a dispersal male.
She sat down and sighed, as wind whistled through her ears.
“I never knew this was so challenging. Why would my two loving, nice, and wondrous parents have their pup embark on a journey like this?” Otsanda said out loud. “This is just ridiculous!” Otsanda stood up and approached a pond and took a swig of water. After her drink, she went back to asking herself, “Why would wolves make their children do this?”
Otsanda sat down again. “Humph!”
She gazed up at a tree. It rustled and shook. Otsanda spotted a squirrel emerging from it. Otsanda felt her stomach snarl. She wagged her tail and growled.
“You’re mine!” She whispered to herself before she tore after it. The squirrel sensed Otsanda and ran away, in search of a good tree to climb up. When a large oak tree came into sight, the squirrel began crawling up the tree. Otsanda lunged at it, but failed. Her second hunt was a failure.
She walked away from the tree that protected the squirrel, ashamed and hungry.
Luckily, though, Otsanda saw a carcass of a young and puny doe up ahead. It still had loads of meat on it. Otsanda shuffled up to the carcass. She buried her face into the doe’s squishy flesh.
Otsanda was quite surprised the crows hadn’t already devoured the doe. She looked up from the doe just to be face to face with a he-wolf with white fur that also had splotches of black on it. His eyes were two ponds of yellow. “What are you doing, little flower?” The wolf questioned. His voice was serious and bold.
“Um, I was eating.”
“You were eating my kill.”
Otsanda backed away. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t hurt me.” Otsanda began showing signs of submission and fear.
The wolf growled, but then stopped.
“Don’t worry. I know you didn’t mean to. You’re just like me. You’re a dispersing wolf, aren’t you, flower?”
Otsanda nodded. “My name is…Otsanda.” Otsanda said very shyly.
“Nice name. I’m Convel.” The wolf said.
Otsanda reapproached Convel.
“So, Convel; want to be my mate?” Otsanda questioned nervously.
Convel blinked hard. “What?” Convel had been searching for a mate for a while now.
“I was assuming that you’d want to be my mate.” Otsanda said.
“I don’t know. I mean, you’re a very beautiful she-wolf, but I don’t know if I should or not...” Convel said quietly.
Otsanda smiled. “Take all the time you need to decide.” She let her tail wag wildly.
Convel looked down and sighed, before resting his sight back on Otsanda.
“Well…I…”
“Yes?”
“Um…” Convel walked closer to Otsanda and sniffed her. He began sniffing her rear, her lower body, and her face, and then shyly backing away every few seconds. Otsanda smiled. She’d probably get a new mate AND a new nickname!
Otsanda wagged her tail as she was sniffed. And she too began sniffing Convel.
The two wolves giggled as they sniffed each other.
“You’re very attracting, Otsanda.” Convel said.
“Why thank you…” Otsanda replied. “You’re pretty interesting yourself.” Otsanda gently rested her nose on Convel’s and stood very close to him. Touching noses and standing very close to another was wolf’s body was a wolf’s way of showing affection.
“I want to be your mate, Convel.” Otsanda said.
“Me too.” Convel licked the corner of her mouth. Otsanda giggled with embarrassment.
“I guess we are mates now.” Otsanda chuckled. “Want to go hunting for deer?”
Convel nodded. “Sure, Flower.”
The two newly paired wolves began sniffing out a herd of deer.
The scents that their noses harbored were scattered everywhere by the wind.
When they found a small herd of deer, they scanned each member of the herd, looking for the weakest one. The deer they would kill would be amputated from its life. Otsanda began stepping on leaves.
“Shh! Flower, what are you doing? Making too much noise will scare the herd away.” Convel growled.
“We want them to run. Running will make it easier to spot which one we’ll kill.” Otsanda whispered. Convel nodded.
Otsanda crushed one more leaf and the herd began tearing away. Otsanda and Convel scanned the exposed herd. Otsanda spotted a large, healthy buck. Father Wolf always told Otsanda to get the sick, elderly, or a fawn. But Otsanda preferred to get the healthiest and plump ones. She loved challenges.
“Okay…now! Let’s go after that buck” Otsanda exclaimed.
“Alright, let’s go!” Convel and Otsanda dashed after the buck.
When Otsanda became close enough to the buck’s rear, she nipped it and the buck let out a grunt of pain.
Convel buried his fangs into the buck. The buck screamed.
Otsanda mimicked Convel’s action. The buck finally collapsed, grunting with pain.
Otsanda delivered the final blow which would cease the buck’s life. She clenched onto the buck’s neck. The buck inhaled air, but couldn’t exhale it. The buck’s eyes flickered close a few times before the eyes were closed for good. “Wow, Otsanda; you were outstanding. You’re making me envy your skills.” Convel admitted.
“Thank you…” Otsanda said shyly. “…your nice words warm my heart.”
Convel smiled. He nuzzled her. Otsanda gasped with excitement. She was so surprised that she couldn’t stop her tail from swaying right to left. Otsanda nuzzled him back.
“Well, Convel,” Otsanda began. “Let’s dig in.” She stopped nuzzling him.
“Oh, right. I forgot about our kill.” Convel and Otsanda both began feasting on the buck. Otsanda gnawed on the chewy and fleshy meat. She licked the crimson off her lips. It was thin and runny. After the meal, Convel and Otsanda left the hunting ground.
“So Convel, why don’t we find a place to live? Don’t you think we should build a den site for the pups?”
Convel blinked hard. “Pups? You want pups?”
“Well aren’t we supposed to have pups?” Convel licked the corner of his mate’s mouth. “Yes…that’s true. Very true. Maybe we should look for a home?” Convel asked. “Yes, I would really like that. Let’s go.” Otsanda and Convel trotted around, in search of a good place to create a home. Otsanda and Convel came across a large, grassy valley.
“Convel, there are no materials to build a den here…” Otsanda said.
Convel looked across the valley. The valley was vacant. Only a lonesome pond was in the valley.
“You’re right. Maybe we should look for something just slightly outside the valley. There should be some collapsed trees somewhere outside the valley, what do you think?”
“Sure. It wouldn’t hurt to look.”
Otsanda and Convel tore across the valley.
Otsanda felt so alive and great dashing beside the love of her life. When they finally made it out of the valley, many trees reappeared. The wolves searched for collapsed trees or large indents in the grounds. Otsanda spotted an indent in a hill that had fallen trees and shrubs surrounding it. Otsanda carelessly squeezed into the indent.
“Flower, what are you doing?” Convel questioned.
“Just seeing…” she paused. “…just seeing if this den is right enough.” She squeezed herself out of the tight burrow.
“It’s…it is perfect. But I can smell that other wolves have been here. Maybe wolves lived here and then abandoned this den and then went to the rendezvous den site.” Otsanda explained.
Convel looked down at his fuzzy paws. “I remember the time I went to the rendezvous den site with my parents. I was almost killed. I remember being snatched up by that eagle. I was fastened to his talons. I felt the eagle’s talons pierce my flesh. I yelped in pain. My parents looked back to see the eagle getting ready to fly off with me. But they managed to snatch him and kill him. My back was blooding and…” Convel paused. “I just can’t go on anymore.”
Otsanda nuzzled Convel. “It’s okay. I’m here for you…”
Convel smiled at his mate. “Thank you…that memory still stabs me today.”
“I’m sorry that it does. Maybe you’re just still a little traumatized.”
“Probably so. But anyways, let’s forget about my memories and worry about finding a home.”
“I agree. But do you want this den or not?” Otsanda examined the den again. “The den is strikingly beautiful.”
“I don’t know about it. I mean, what if those wolves that used to live here came back here?” A worried Convel questioned.
“They won’t Convel. I promise.”
“Are you sure, Flower?”
Otsanda wagged her tail.
“Yes, I am positive.” Otsanda smiled. “And by the way,”
“Yes, Flower?” Convel said.
“I like it if you’d call me Otsanda more often.” Otsanda chuckled.
”Surely, Otsanda.” Convel said in the most loving manner he could find.
“I guess this is our den now?” Otsanda asked.
“Otsanda, are you sure you want this den?” Convel began. “…because we can always keep looking.”
Otsanda nodded rapidly. “Yes, yes, and yes!”
Convel grinned. “Okay, you win. Let’s stay here. And in a few minutes, we should get scent marking.”
Otsanda squealed with delight. “Yay! Thank you, Convel.”
Otsanda began dancing around, yapping with happiness.
Convel couldn’t help but laugh a little. His mate was practically an adult, like himself, but still acted very childish like a pup.
Otsanda eventually returned to Convel’s side, panting.
“Whew! Convel, my mouth is sultry. Why don’t we look for a drink?” Otsanda suggested.
“We can go back to that pond we saw.”
“Good idea. Let’s go.” The two wolves trotted away from the den, trying to locate the pond again.
“Ahh; here it is.” Otsanda carelessly stepped into the pond, letting the water soak her shady fur.
Convel nervously went into the chilly water. “Ergh; this water is a little cold, don’t you think?”
“It feels fine. Stop worrying so much.” Otsanda slowly lapped up water.
“If you say so.” Convel cautiously sipped water. Otsanda smiled.
“I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
The wolves continued draining water until a pure white wolf with blue eyes and a small gash on his thigh appeared.
Otsanda stepped out of the water, gleaming at the pure white wolf. She hung her tail up high and tried to look dominant and strong and fierce.
The wolf hesitated to approach her at first but then received the confidence to.
The wolf walked up to her and sniffed her. Otsanda growled.
“Get away from me!” she warned.
Convel glared at the wolf. He approached Otsanda and the white wolf.
“Get away from us NOW.” Convel said darkly. His words were bone-chilling and scary.
The white wolf backed away. “I’m sorry. I was just going to ask for your help. But your mate smelled irresistible.”
“Okay, okay, whatever. Just tell me your problem and I won’t hurt you.” Convel said. He was willing to help the wolf with his problem, but he was still suspicious.
“While chasing a doe on a hunting foray in a gorge, my mate, Flossie was jabbed by an angry buck’s antler. I managed to scare the buck off. After the buck stormed away with his herd, Flossie was lying down, with a gash in her thigh. She told me to get help. And now I’m here. By the way, my name is Gale.” The wolf explained.
“Okay, take us to your mate, Gale.” Otsanda said. “Take us to her before it’s too late.”
Gale nodded. He dashed away, with Otsanda and Convel dashing behind.
Their paws hammered the ground fiercely as the wolves rushed to the scene. Flossie was lying by a bush, with her eyes shut tight.
When they made it to Flossie’s side, Gale said, “Flossie, are you alright?”
Flossie’s eyes snapped open. “Huh, Gale, is that you?”
“Yeah, I’m here, but I brought help along too.”
Flossie gave Otsanda and Convel a friendly gleam before turning back to Gale.
“Gale, help me rise.” Flossie made an attempt to stand. Otsanda, Convel and Gale helped Flossie stand. Flossie yelped when she did, but stayed strong.
“Who are these wolves anyway, Gale?”
“This is Otsanda and Convel.”
Flossie gazed at Otsanda and Convel. “Why hello there. Thank you for helping me.”
“My pleasure, Flossie.” Otsanda said softly.
“Yeah, we didn’t want Gale to lose you.” Convel said, flashing a striking smile at Flossie.
“I guess we’ll be taking our separate ways now, eh?” Gale questioned. Otsanda thought for a moment. “No; we won’t.”
“What?” Gale gasped. “What do you mean?”
”I want you two to come with us.”
“Where are we going to go?”
”Convel and I found a den, hoping that we’d raise pups there…this may sound kind of wrong…but I’m not all ready to have pups. Ever since I was a little puppy myself, I loved wandering around and exploring. And I still do. Why don’t we…” Otsanda paused. “explore the wonders of our enormous home? Let’s journey the forest and explore everything! Wouldn’t that be fun? I mean, we’d meet others; wouldn’t that be nice?”
Convel, Gale and Flossie stared at her for a while.
“Are you sure, Otsanda? I thought we became mates to start a family. That’s what we’re supposed to do, right?” Convel said.
Otsanda turned away and emitted a sigh.
“I knew you wolves wouldn’t understand.” Otsanda said darkly. “Why does everyone always have to do stuff the right way?!” Otsanda barked.
“Otsanda, calm down.” Convel said softly.
“Yeah, Otsanda; why we just—” Gale’s words were smashed by Otsanda’s angry voice.
“Zip it, Gale! I’m tired off always doing stuff the right way!” Otsanda growled. Then she turned back to Convel with a glare.
“As for you, Convel!” she began. “It’s sounds like you’re trying to force me into having pups!”
Convel blinked hard. “What?! Otsanda, I’d never make you do such a thing!”
Otsanda turned away again. “That’s it. I’m finished with this. I’m leaving.”
“But Otsanda…” Flossie peeped. “What’re going to do?”
“I’m going to become a loner. I can do things the way I want and only worry myself. Goodbye.”
Otsanda stormed away.
“Otsanda!” Convel began walking after her, but was halted by Gale. “Convel, let her go.”
Convel sighed with defeat and let his ears fall back. “Fine. But what am I to do with no mate…I worked so hard to find her…and I lost her. I don’t know what to do now.” Convel said.
“You should search for a new mate, Convel. Maybe you weren’t ready for her.” Gale suggested.
Convel gave a goodbye nod and trudged away.
Meanwhile, Otsanda was walking through hunting ground with foliage everywhere, looking for deer. The sky was gloomy, gray and depressing. White sacks in the sky were filled with rainwater. The sacks would soon explode, rainwater spilling out everywhere.
Otsanda discovered a family of deer. There was a buck, a doe, and a fawn.
Otsanda walked into a patch of tall grass. The grass tickled her nose, but this didn’t stop her from making a kill.
She decided to set her sights on the fawn, since she wasn’t that hungry.
Then the she-wolf purposely stepped on a leaf.
The doe and the buck raised their heads from grazing and scanned the area, looking for predators. But they couldn’t spot Otsanda. This was Otsanda’s chance! Now that the parents were distracted, she could easily take out the fawn.
Otsanda launched herself at the fawn. She tackled it and began to do what she had to do. The fawn screamed, alerting the doe and the buck.
The doe and the buck made a few false charges to frighten away Otsanda, but the fawn was already dead.
Otsanda savored the fawn’s blood and then began devouring it. She gorged on the meaty insides.
Her chin became covered in the fawn’s blood.
The doe and the buck watched from a distance in horror.
The deer were both sad that they had lost their child.
But Otsanda showed no remorse and care that the deer were watching their child getting eaten up.
After Otsanda’s snack, she trudged away.
When she was about ten feet away from the fawn’s carcass, she turned around and looked at the mournful doe and buck. They sniffed the carcass and investigated it.
Otsanda watched, blood dripping from her mouth.
She stood there, watching them with no feeling.
Then she walked away and didn’t turn back. Otsanda spotted an enormous ravine filled with water. She began heading for it. She walked down into it, but didn’t go into the water. The water was only about five feet deep, but something told her not to cross it. A few seconds later, it began showering rain.
Otsanda let the rain drops smash against her fur. She gently sat down and then lied down. She dozed off for eight minutes just to wake up nearly underwater.
The rain was filling up the ravine! Otsanda stood up, scared. The rain was filling up the ravine quick. But Otsanda still had a hangover from her eight minute nap and was dizzy and sleepy. She ended up collapsing on the ground.
“No!” She screamed at herself. A wave of water splashed her face. This awakened her. Otsanda finally made a decision. It could claim her life, but it was a decision.
Otsanda decided to cross the ravine. The ravine was dangerous and could drown her, but she’d try to get across. She jumped into the water. The water wasn’t too cold. Lightning danced and thunder boomed. Otsanda began paddling across. It was so far, so good. More rain whooshed down from the sacks in the sky. It smashed against Otsanda. Otsanda screamed with fear as a few droplets got into her eyes. But she kept paddling. Otsanda took a quick look back. The place where she had fallen asleep was blanketed with water.
Otsanda looked away. She wasn’t too far from the other side now!
Otsanda looked up. Rain droplets almost fell in her eyes. She heard and saw trees collapse and tumble down into the ravine. Otsanda gasped. She blinked. And she snapped open her eyes to see a tree tumbling down her way.
Otsanda could almost see herself in heaven already.
Otsanda ducked just in time. The tree missed her.
A wave whooshed on top of Otsanda. She swallowed loads of water. When her head came back above water, she found herself coughing back up the water she had swallowed. But whilst she was doing this, a tree rolled down the ravine and onto Otsanda. It bumped her head. She went underwater, scared out of her mind. She saw blood go up above her. Otsanda swallowed more water. ‘So I guess this is the end of me…’ She thought. ‘I bet this is the time I die. Well, that’s what I get for committing such a stupid action…’
Otsanda felt herself sinking slowly. The she-wolf passed out. But then a miracle happened.
Something grabbed her, but Otsanda couldn’t feel it, of course. She was unconscious. The something dragged her out of the deadly ravine. The something had dragged her to the other side. The next day, when Otsanda awoke, she discovered that she was alive.
She was lying in a pile of leaves and a he-wolf was watching her.
“Where am I?” she asked weakly.
“Otsanda, you’re alive!” The he-wolf said. It was Convel!
Otsanda smiled and stood up. She nuzzled Convel.
“Convel, thank you. I thought I was going to die.” Otsanda said.
“But you didn’t; you’re okay!” Convel nuzzled her back.
The wolves wagged their tails.
“I’m sorry of what happened yesterday, Otsanda.” Convel said.
“It’s okay. I think we should just start a family, like you wanted.” Otsanda smiled.
Convel rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“Are you kidding me? Maybe we should start a family later, let’s travel with Gale and Flossie!” Convel said.
Otsanda wagged her tail faster. “Yes, Yes and yes!” Otsanda squeaked. “But where are Gale and Flossie?”
“Right here. I managed to find them when I rescued you.”
Gale and Flossie emerged out of some bushes.
“Otsanda, you’re okay!” They both gave her friendly nuzzles.
“I know. I’m glad to be alive.” Otsanda smiled at them.
“So where should we start traveling first?” Flossie questioned.
“My mother always told me of a place called Alta Mountains. My mother said that her own mother visited Alta Mountains. And she said it was gorgeous.” Gale peeped shyly.
“Really?” Otsanda said, fascinated.
Gale nodded. “My mom said she’d take me there one day. But never did.”
Convel tilted his head. “W-why not?”
“My mom was killed.” Gale said. A shower of pain engulfed him.
“How was she killed?” Otsanda questioned, her ears going flat.
“She was murdered. She was murdered by a gang of wolves.” Gale replied. “I remember the bloody fight. I remember dashing away, abandoning her corpse and I…”
“Shh, Gale. Don’t talk about your mother anymore. I know you miss her, but I don’t want you to feel hurt…” Flossie said, nuzzling her mate.
“But anyway, can you wolves help me get there? I want to see Alta Mountains so badly! Can you please Flossie and I get there?” Gale pleaded.
Otsanda smiled and chuckled. “Sure, we’d love to.”
“Is Alta Mountains far?” Convel asked.
Gale shook his head, but then halted that action. “My mom told me it could take a few days to reach Alta Mountains.” Gale answered. “And she said you’d run into small deer herds along the way.”
“So does that mean food is plentiful?” Flossie said.
“Yes. There shouldn’t be any delays.” Gale smiled at his buddies.
“When should we depart?”
“Let’s head for Alta Mountains in two days, how about it? My mom told me that it’s full of mystical diamonds and jewels.”
“Sure!” Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Why don’t we head out for a hunt?” Otsanda suggested.
“Well, I am kind of hungry.” Convel said.
“Yeah, let’s go find something to eat.”
“I’ll gather berries.” Flossie said. “You guys can go on and hunt.”
“Are you sure, Flossie? I don’t want you to get hurt again.” a worried Gale said.
“I’ll be fine, Gale. Go get deer with Convel and Otsanda.” Flossie smiled. “I promise; I’ll be fine.”
Gale and Flossie nuzzled each other. “Okay, Flossie. Please be careful.”
“Come on, let’s go, Gale. We need to go find food.” Otsanda said.
The three wolves set off in search of deer.
They let scents flow through their noses.
When their noses led them to a valley, the smell of deer thickened.
“We should wait here; maybe a herd might come to graze.” Convel said.
“What makes you think that, Convel?” Gale asked.
“Well, the scent of deer is everywhere and this grass is perfect for eating.” Convel replied.
The blades of grass tickled Otsanda’s nose. She giggled as the blade brushed against her nose.
“Hey, here comes a…” Convel paused and everyone became excited. “Here comes a butterfly!”
Otsanda halted her excitement. “You say it’s just a butterfly? You hyped us up over a stupid butterfly?” Otsanda scolded.
Convel looked down with shame, like a toddler who had just gotten in trouble with his mother.
“Hey, look!” Gale shouted. “It’s a mother bear and her two cubs! Maybe if we can, we can snatch one!”
Indeed, a bear was trotting around with her young.
“The mother bear won’t let us.” Convel said.
“That’s not stopping us. Let’s go. We can distract the mother and take one of her young away. It’s risky, but man, I’m famished!” Otsanda crowed.
The wolves silently went out to confront the make a kill.
When they were in the bear’s sight, the bear stood up on her front paws and roared, in an attempt to intimidate the hungry wolves.
“Go away!” she shouted at them. “Hurt my young and you’ll end up like them!”
“Silly bear; you can’t scare us.” Otsanda said in a dark, evil tone. The wolves circled here. The bear stood over her cubs, roaring. White and foamy drool plummeted from her mouth.
“Let us be, you foolish wolves.” The bear pleaded. “I will not hesitate to kill each and every one of you!”
Gale stopped circling the bear and slowly made his way to one of her cubs.
Otsanda and Convel halted their circling also and stood in front of the bear, distracting her with their words.
Then there was a yowl. It came from one of bear cubs.
“Mother Bear, the wolf has me!” a female cub screamed.
The bear whirled around and saw Gale trying to maim and mutilate the cub.
The mother bear gave an ear-shattering roar.
The bear swiped Gale and ultimately, knocked him out. She knocked out Gale with just one swipe!
And since Gale was unconscious, he unwillingly released the cub from his grip. The bear turned around to face Otsanda and Convel again.
She roared once more. This time, drool smashing right onto their faces.
“Otsanda,” Convel whispered.
Otsanda shivered. “Y-yeah, Convel?”
“I just wet myself.” Convel said with an embarrassed tone.
The bear made an attempt to swipe the two wolves, but the wolves dodged the attack.
The wolves tore away. The bear raced after them, however, leaving her cubs behind.
Her first cub, the female one, dashed away. The male one, however, stayed and investigated Gale’s motionless body.
“Convel, she’s right after behind our tails’!” Otsanda hollered.
“Maybe we should find a way to outrun her or something like that!” Convel hollered back, hearing the bear’s ferocious roars behind them.
“Let’s go different ways!” Otsanda suggested.
“No, that won’t work! Maybe we should face the bear?” Convel replied.
“Are you crazy? That huge, drooling and angry thing knocked out Gale!” Otsanda barked.
Convel smiled at Otsanda. “Otsanda, we can do this.”
The wolves stopped running and turned around to face the bear.
“You two wolves decided to give up your lives to me? Smart decision. I mean, I couldn’t just keep running after you for hours and hours.” The grizzly chuckled.
Otsanda growled and lunged at the grizzly. The grizzly made an attempt to swipe her from the air, but failed.
Otsanda found her jaws latched onto the bear’s face. She began to maul on her face, and she let herself morsel the tiny parts she took off. The grizzly detonated a roar that could frighten the fur off of a fox.
The grizzly snatched Otsanda off her face as if she were a weightless rag and slammed her down onto the dirt. Otsanda yelped with pain. She stood up weakly and looked around. Everything looked distorted and wiggly. She wobbled in place.
Convel snarled at the bear and lunged at her rear. He clamped his fangs onto her short tail.
The bear roared and shook her rear. “Get off of me, you no-good wolf!”
Convel didn’t let go. He gave her tail a good tug and the bear yowled in pain.
When Convel let go, the tail was drenched in blood. The bear quickly looked at her wounded tail.
“Otsanda, are you okay?” Convel questioned.
“Yeah, just a little dizzy, that’s all.” Otsanda answered. “Now let’s get away, before the bear resumes trying to kill us. Maybe Gale will be awake.”
Convel nodded and they both hurried away.
When they made it back to where they had encountered the bear, they spotted an awake, but very weak and tired, Gale.
“Gale, you’re okay.” Otsanda gave him a friendly nuzzle. Right next to Gale, there was a dead male bear cub.
“I killed the cub as soon as I awoke.”
There was a burgundy liquid all over the lifeless cub. “Let’s dig in, shall we?” Convel said, drool dropping from his mouth.
“Well, I am starved. Let’s—wait!” Otsanda barked.
“I don’t want to wait, I want to eat!” Gale growled.
“No, I mean, who’s the strongest here? Only the strongest and most dominant may eat first.” Otsanda explained. “We should do the right thing and take turns eating.”
“Otsanda, you said you hated doing things the right way all the time.” Convel mumbled.
“I know but something tells me I should be eating first!” Otsanda said.
“No, I think I earned it the most. After all, I killed it.” Gale said proudly.
“That wasn’t a real kill! You were unconscious while Convel and I were nearly killed by that crazy she-bear!” Otsanda snarled.
“Guys, why don’t we just eat it together?” Convel suggested.
“No, I want to eat first! You’re going to have to wait in line!”
“O-Otsanda, we have a problem.” Convel whispered, scared out of his mind.
“What is it?!” Otsanda barked.
“It’s the bear.” Convel said. Otsanda turned around. The bear was there, indeed! The bear began plotting her attacks in her head on the wolves, but stopped when she realized her cub had been killed, she lost interest in trying to annihilate the wolves.
She sat down by the corpse and moaned with sorrow, poking the corpse.
The wolves were gone in a jiffy.
When they made it back to where they had been camping out, they spotted Flossie.
“Flossie, did you find anything to eat?” They questioned.
“Yeah, here are some berries.” Flossie introduced them into a pile of berries.
“Floss, have you been eating some?” Otsanda laughed.
“No, why do you think that?” Flossie said, trying to seem unsuspicious.
“You have blue and purple stains all over your face.” Convel pointed out. Everyone smirked.
“Okay, okay, you caught me. I only ate about five…or nine of them?” Flossie said.
Everyone laughed, including Flossie.
“It is okay, Floss. Let’s just divide the berries and then we’ll dig in.” Gale said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. The wolves began dividing the berries up. Each had their equal share. The remaining berries were never eaten by any of them, since the wolves wanted to be fair.
After eating, the wolves just sat together and chatted.
“Gale, are you sure we should go to Alta Mountain?” Flossie asked Gale for the ninth time.
“Flossie, I’m sure. Stop worrying so much, okay?” Gale nuzzled her.
“Yeah, Floss. Chill out. I’m sure everything will go out awesome!” Otsanda giggled.
Everyone crowed.
“Ooh, someone left these berries here! I’d better eat them, they look good to eat!” A voice of a jolly she-wolf said.
“Who’s there?!” Convel demanded. They walked up to the she-wolf.
The she-wolf was just a pup and gasped and backed away. “Please, spare me! I just became hungry! Don’t hurt me, please!” The she-wolf begged.
“Convel, it’s just a little pup, don’t hurt her. Pup, give me your name.” Otsanda said.
“My name’s Bridget…” The pup whispered. The pup had white and gray fur and bright yellow eyes.
“What was that?”
“My name is Bridget. And I’m only a month old.” The pup said a little bit louder.
“Okay, Bridget, where are your parents?”
Bridget sniffled and whimpered. “They died yesterday. They were murdered by a mean white wolf with bright blue eyes and he had an X shaped scar on his neck. I managed to escape safely. I miss them so much…I don’t even know what to do. I’m afraid that the wolf will search for me and kill me, too!” Bridget explained, shivering.
“Oh, that’s just terrible!” Gale exclaimed. He looked at Otsanda. “Well, what should we do?”
Otsanda thought for a moment. “Bridget, how about we take of you? We’ll be your family, now. Do you like that?” Otsanda questioned.
Bridget nodded rapidly. “Yes, I love that! Thank you! Can you tell me what your names are now?”
The wolves each told Bridget their names.
“Yay! I’m so happy! May I go eat those berries now?” Bridget asked.
Everyone nodded and Bridget rocketed off to get to the uneaten berries. The berries vanished in a minute. Then Bridget collapsed.
“BRIDGET!” Everyone screamed.
Flossie went over to Bridget’s body. She sniffed her. “She’s still alive. Bridget just fell asleep. Maybe she was really tired?”
“Yeah, I guess so. And look, it’s almost dusk. We’ve done enough today. Let’s get some sleep.” Convel yawned.
Everyone, except Bridget (of course because she already was asleep), lied down and went to sleep.
The first thing Otsanda heard when she awoke the next day was crunching and chewing.
She stood up to see everyone eating from a doe carcass.
“Good morning, everyone. I see that we’ve all started eating without me. Why is that?” Otsanda asked.
“Oh hey, Otsanda. Sorry we started eating without you. We didn’t want to disturb you.” Convel said, grinning.
“Well, did you guys save me some? I’m starved.” Otsanda asked.
“Yeah, we saw this doe wandering around here. She was an easy kill. We just killed her, actually. And now, we’re dining on her. Join us.” Flossie smiled at Otsanda.
Otsanda smiled back and sat down with everyone else, eating the doe along with everyone else. After breakfast, Otsanda, Convel, Flossie, Gale, and Bridget, decided to leave the place they had been camping out at and decided to take the trip to the mountains early.
“So which way do we go first, Gale? And how do we know we’re going the right way?”
“My mom said that Alta Mountains is surrounded by a blanket of these flowers called Violet Void flowers. Some say that are used to keep thieves out.” Gale explained. He pointed to one with his paw.
It had deep purple petals and a light shade of green for a stem. Thorns were attached to the stem.
“They are so beautiful.” An amazed Otsanda said.
“Yeah, but watch out for the thorns. If they give you a good stab, it’ll feel dangerously unpleasant. So as we venture to the mountains, watch where you step, okay?” Gale warned.
“Gale, we’ll be careful. Now let’s go. We’ve already spotted one Violet Void flower, so maybe we aren’t too far after all. Let’s go!” Flossie said.
Everyone nodded and everyone looked up ahead. They could see the tiny point of the mountain. It looked like a big gray hill. But it wasn’t.
Otsanda scooped up Bridget, because she probably wouldn’t be able to keep up.
And then the wolves broke into a run for the Alta Mountains.
Paws hammered the ground, making crows fly away.
The wolves would run until dusk, and would only stop three times for ten minutes to rest.
When the dusk came, the wolves collapsed onto the ground. They were all exhausted.
“My legs feel so sore…” Convel said, breaking into a series of pants.
Otsanda set Bridget down. “I’m tired…” Otsanda said in a hushed voice. She sprawled out on the grass and panted.
“I’m starving.” Gale growled. “Why don’t we eat the pup?”
Bridget whimpered and hid behind Otsanda.
“Gale, we aren’t going to eat Bridget.” Otsanda snarled.
“We’ll have to skip food tonight. Tomorrow morning, we can go hunting.” Flossie said.
“But I’m hungry right now.” Bridget complained.
Gale rolled his eyes. Convel looked down at the grass and saw a rat scurrying by with fear.
Convel broke after it and returned in seconds. “Here, Bridget. Eat this.” Convel set the rat in front of her.
Bridget picked at it for a few seconds, but then in a few minutes, only the rat’s small bones remained.
“Are you still hungry, Bridget?”
“Yes, a little.”
”Sorry, but you’ll have to wait for more food tomorrow.”
“Let’s get some sleep.”
It was a fitful night. The wolves were so hungry.
Before the sun even came up, the wolves were already out on a hunting foray. Bridget even tagged along. The wolves decided to teach her hunting tactics, even though they thought it was a bit early for her to hunt.
“Do you see any deer yet?” Bridget asked for the nineteenth time.
“Shh, Bridget. We’ll be doing the hunting today. You will watch from us and learn.” Convel explained with a hushed tone.
“But I want to hunt and—” Bridget’s words were sliced off.
“Look, deer!” Otsanda whispered.
Everyone looked at the deer, except for Bridget, who couldn’t observe very well in the tall grass.
“Let’s get that one!” Flossie said. “The young doe looks mighty good. She makes my mouth water!”
“Okay, let’s go get her. Bridget, you stay here.” Otsanda said.
“But I want to hunt the doe with you!” Bridget whined. She wagged her tail fiercely.
“Bridget, you can watch us hunt the doe. We don’t want you to injure yourself trying to help us hunt, okay?” Convel said sternly.
“Please, let me hunt with you! Watching is boring!” Bridget said, raising her voice.
“BRIDGET, NO!” Everyone growled.
“Stay here, Bridge.” Gale said. “You can watch us. This hunt won’t take long.”
Bridget sat down and broke her ears back and stopped wagging her tail.
She watched Convel, Otsanda, Gale and Flossie break away after the doe.
Bridget whimpered. She sat there in silence for about twenty-seven minutes.
But then there was a shriek of terror.
“OTSANDA!”
Bridget stood up and began her way to the scene.
The doe that Convel, Otsanda, Gale, and Flossie had been trying to hunt down was being protected by a buck.
Otsanda’s shoulder had nearly been shredded open by the bull’s sharp antlers. The shoulder was completely covered in blood.
The buck charged at Otsanda, trying to finish her off.
Convel jumped in front of Otsanda and lunged at the buck’s throat. And before Bridget could blink, she was observing Convel clamping onto the buck’s throat.
Convel snarled, “You don’t hurt my mate!”
He sank his fangs deeper into the buck. Blood dripped from the buck’s throat.
Finally, Convel let go, thinking that he had done enough damage to the buck and the buck would die on his own.
The buck gored Convel in his rear. Convel screamed in pain. He fell down right next to Otsanda.
Bridget stood there, viewing the scene in horror.
Flossie and Gale both lunged at the buck, biting it in various places.
The buck stopped goring Convel and turned around to Gale and Flossie. The buck tried to stab one of the wolves with his antlers. Flossie successfully dodged, but Gale ended up with a small gash on his side. Gale and Flossie ran to Convel and Otsanda’s side.
The buck snorted with anger. “I’m tired of you pathetic wolves trying to wipe out our kind!” He roared.
The buck charged, this time determined to end all of the wolves.
“NOOOOOO!” A voice shrieked. The buck became startled.
Then, the unthinkable happened.
Bridget’s pupils dilated. Bridget charged at the buck. She bit the buck’s leg. Even though her fangs were still small, she was still drawing blood. She tore the belly open and blood spilled out.
The buck yowled in pain. The buck tried to stab her with his antlers, but Bridget was just a pup and she was still small, so, she dodged his antlers and his fierce kicks.
And Bridget slid right under the buck and bit his belly. Blood spilled out.
“We have to help Bridget!” Flossie said to Gale.
“You’re right, let’s go!”
Flossie and Gale launched another attack on the buck. Finally, out of all the damage the buck had taken, he began going down.
“You wolves…” The buck paused. “you wolves had defeated me. I give in. End me. End me now. I cannot take anymore pain and damage.” And with that, the buck collapsed onto the hard forest floor.
“We killed the buck.” Flossie said, wearing a cloak of surprise on her face. “He’s dead.”
“I know. Let’s help Otsanda and Convel first. Maybe their injuries aren’t as bad as they seem.”
Gale and Flossie rushed back to Otsanda and Convel’s side.
Otsanda’s shoulder and Convel’s rear were laced in blood. Otsanda looked up to Flossie and Gale. Her tongue was hanging out, and it was stained in blood. She had been licking her wound.
“Gale, Flossie, do not worry about us this moment. What happened to Bridget?” Otsanda said unemotionally. Her azure blue eyes were wide and still.
Gale and Flossie set their sights on Bridget. She was lying on the ground, motionless as ever.
Gale and Flossie quickly dashed to her.
“Bridget, wake up. Are you okay?”
Bridget rolled over to face Gale and Flossie. “What happened, Bridget? How did you do that? You sick’ed that buck real good.” Gale asked.
“I don’t know…something just hit me. The only thing I can remember is falling to the ground after tearing the buck’s stomach open. And waking up to you two, of course.”
Gale and Flossie swapped surprised looks.
“Bridget, are you sure? You don’t remember anything other than waking up?” Flossie questioned.
“No, I don’t remember a thing.” Bridget stood up. “We should help Otsanda and Convel now. They are seriously hurt.”
“Okay, Bridget. If you say so.”
The wolves all assisted Convel and Otsanda. They helped them lick the blood off their wounds. When Convel and Otsanda became healthy enough to walk around and get back to their normal selves, everyone was relieved.
And then they began on the buck. It was a big relief to finally have something to munch on. The only thing that remained of the buck was a meatless skeleton.
“Whoa, this is the fullest I’ve been in weeks!” Otsanda exclaimed, lying on a soft pile of dirt.
“I’m totally refreshed. Despite the injuries Otsanda and Convel took, I think we will be able to walk some more miles until sundown. Hopefully, Otsanda and Convel’s injuries will heal soon.” Flossie said.
“I think you’re right, Flossie. My shoulder should take a few weeks to heal, but Convel’s butt should take a few months!” Otsanda blurted out.
Everyone broke into a laugh, except for Convel, who just smiled.
“Ha-ha. Good one Otsanda. We should continue heading to the Alta Mountains. I want to see the jewels and diamonds already!” Convel said.
Everyone nodded in agreement and continued heading for the Alta Mountains.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
“Boss, are you sure there’s anything here that contains powers?” Tikaani questioned.
Tikaani was a young male wolf with cocoa brown fur and bright yellow eyes.
“Oh, shut up, Tikaani. Of course there are things like that here, and you know that.” Kitchno growled.
Kitchno was a deep gray wolf with an enormous scar on his right leg. Kitchno had deep yellow eyes. He was also traveling to the Alta Mountains with a large group of troubled wolves. And he was way ahead of Otsanda and the others. Kitchno was searching for things that hold massive amounts of power. He was going to steal whatever amazing things he could find, whether they had mystical powers or not.
“And as long as we don’t run into other wolves that might tell the Wolf Council, we might get to escape with a variety of diamonds and other jewels. So shut your little yapper before someone hears us, okay?” Kitchno scolded.
Tikaani whimpered.
“Kitchno, sir, the clouds are darkening. A storm must be approaching. We should stop and wait until it passes.” One wolf said.
Kitchno stopped walking and whirled around and looked at the wolf who had said that.
He jogged up to the wolf and tackled him. He managed to pin him down,
“We will NOT be stopping for anything!” Kitchno barked and gave the wolf a menacing look.
The pinned wolf let his ears fall back and he whimpered with fear.
Kitchno stepped off of the wolf and began heading toward the Alta Mountains again. Everyone followed, except for the wolf that had been pinned down. The wolf turned around and dashed away in the opposite direction. He was finished participating with Kitchno and his devious little plans.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
“The clouds look very dark. I think it’s going to rain soon.” Bridget chirped.
“We’ve been walking for a while now, anyway, so maybe it is good we stop.” Flossie answered.
Everyone walked under a large oak tree and lied down.
“I still hope we can find diamonds and rubies and other jewels at the Alta Mountains.” Convel said.
“Yeah, that would be great if we could bring back some souvenirs.” Otsanda agreed “But what shall we do after we complete our trip to the Alta Mountains?”
Everyone was hushed for a few minutes.
“I KNOW!” Bridge blurted out. “A week before I lost my parents, I always had heard of an ancient ruin that is a great distance from where we are now. It has mystical writing all over the walls that have not been said for over two-hundred and fifty-nine decades! It has got to be amazing going to those ruins!”
“Bridget, are you sure saying something that hasn’t been said for ages in an ancient ruin is safe? I mean, what if, the writing isn’t meant to been said at all? What if, that when we said the words, something mystic was opened or something?” Gale said.
“But…I’ve always dreamed of going there one day.” Bridget said softly. “I can’t go there alone. You, Flossie, Convel, and Otsanda are my new family.”
“Gale, did you have to tell her that?” Flossie said with a small growl. Flossie turned back to Bridget. “Don’t worry, Bridge. We’ll go to those ruins one day.”
Bridget smiled and squealed with delight.
Otsanda wagged her tail and smiled, until something wet fell right into her left eye. She shut the left eye.
When she opened it a few seconds later, she looked up at the sky. It was gray and drab and little tears of rain were plummeting down.
After the rain passed and the wolves were fully rested, they stood up and left the oak tree and continued their journey.
They hadn’t even been walking for eight minutes when they stumbled upon a bush. And by the bush, was a wolf’s body.
The body was brown.
“Is this wolf…dead?” Flossie questioned.
Otsanda sniffed the wolf’s body and nudged it a bit.
“I think so. Well, let’s eat it before something else does.”
“Otsanda, we shouldn’t eat the wolf.”
The brown wolf opened his eyes a crack and listened to the wolf’s talking.
“Why not? It’s perfectly good and untouched. It’s perfect for eating.”
The brown wolf gasped and stood up. He growled and showed his fangs.
“Don’t come any closer, you savages!” The brown wolf snarled.
“The wolf is alive!” Otsanda gasped.
“Yes, I am alive, thank you. I was sleeping until I woke up to hear you freaks deciding whether to eat me or not!” The brown wolf shouted at them.
“Look, we’re sorry, okay? C’mon, everybody, let’s keep going.” Otsanda said.
The wolves began walking away. The brown wolf halted them. “Where are you wolves heading?”
“We are going to travel to the Alta Mountains to be amazed by what mysteries and jewels it contains.” Gale explained.
“You can’t go there!” The brown wolf blurted.
“Why not?” Bridget peeped.
“Because…my…because…”
“Spit it out, brownie.”
“Never mind. Look guys, may I come with you guys to the Alta Mountains? I’m sorry the way I acted when we met, okay?” The brown wolf said. “My name is Tikaani.”
“Since I’m the leader of this group I will decide. Tikaani, you may come. You may join our group.” Otsanda said, grinning at him. “Welcome.”
Tikaani smiled.
“Thank you, thank you, Otsanda! I won’t let any of you down! Never!”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up. We have a long way to go to the Alta Mountains.” Convel said blandly.
“Convel, be nice.” Otsanda whispered to him.
The wolves continued walking. Otsanda scooped up Bridget, and then burst into a run. Everyone ran after her.
The wolves ran endlessly. They ran even when their paw pads became very sore. They ran even until it felt like a bear’s claw was being driven into their paws.
The wolves finally stopped running when it was late in the afternoon.
“I’ve never run so much in my life.” Tikaani said, panting.
Otsanda set Bridget down.
“Get used to it, because we’ll be traveling to a whole lot of other places too. And of course, we’ll be running.” Otsanda chuckled.
Tikaani grinned.
“We aren’t too far from the Alta Mountains now. Probably only a day or two away!” Gale announced.
Everyone sighed with relief, except Tikaani, because he had already been to the Alta Mountains.
“Nice, Gale. So when do we stop for food?” Tikaani questioned, scratching his right ear.
“Only twice a day.” Gale replied.
“When do we rest?”
“At least three times. And we usually rest for twelve to twenty minutes. Speaking of rest, we should rest right now.”
Everyone nodded and lied down, except for Bridget, who began gnawing on a stick.
After rest time was up, the wolves rose up and began running again.
Everything was turning out fine until there was a yelp of pain.
“OUUUUCH!” Otsanda howled. She stopped running, set down Bridget and looked at her right front paw. It was bleeding. She scanned the ground to see an uprooted purple flower in front of her. “It’s a Violet Void flower. It must’ve stabbed me!” Otsanda growled at the flower.
“I warned you.” Gale said, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Oh, shut up, Gale! Pretty soon, you’ll have stepped on a flower too!” Otsanda giggled. She licked her bloody right front paw.
“My paw still stings. Can we look for a small pond or something? Maybe I can dip my paw in it and wash away the blood?” Otsanda added.
Flossie looked around. There were no ponds in sight.
“I don’t see any ponds. Maybe we can look for a puddle? After all, it just stopped raining.” Flossie suggested.
“Hey, there’s one!” Bridget squealed. She marched up to a large puddle of rainwater. Otsanda went up to the puddle and dunked her paw into it. It stung even more.
“Owwwwwwww, it stings even more.” Otsanda whined.
“Maybe that’s just the effect of the water on your paw. It’s probably supposed to.” Tikaani said, gazing into the puddle.
“I think Tikaani’s right.” Flossie began. “Leave your paw in the water for a few more minutes and then take it out so we can keep traveling.”
Otsanda nodded. Her paw stopped stinging and the water began soothing her paw instead.
“My paw is starting to feel better.” Otsanda said, wagging her tail.
“That’s good. Are you going to take it out now?” Flossie questioned.
“Wow. My paw feels so good already. It feels wonderful, why, it feels amazing!” Otsanda exclaimed. She wagged her tail even faster.
“Oh my gosh! This feels dynamically outstanding!” Otsanda took her paw out of the water. The blood was gone, and the tiny wound was erased completely from her paw. There wasn’t even a scar left behind!
Otsanda walked around a little. Her paw felt just fine!
She went back to the puddle. “I think this puddle is magical!” Otsanda exclaimed.
Flossie, Convel, Bridget, Gale, and Tikaani dunked one of their front paws into the water.
“I can’t believe it! My paw feels so renewed!” Gale said happily.
“I wanna’ see what’ll happen if I put my entire body in it!” Bridget blurted out. And before anyone could stop her, Bridget pounced right into the puddle. Water splashed onto the wolves.
“Ahhhh! Bridget, don’t soil my fur!” Flossie growled.
“This feels…” Bridget began, trembling. “…SO UNBELIEVABLE!” She wagged her tail faster and faster.
Then the unthinkable happened: Bridget fell beneath the surface of the pond.
Everyone screamed. “BRIDGET!”
The wolves stared into the pond. Otsanda put her paw back into the water, and swished the water around. There was no bottom.
“I knew there was something strange about this place.” Convel whispered to himself.
“We’re going to have to go in; especially if it means finding Bridget. Who wants to go first?” Flossie asked.
Nobody answered. “Fine. I’ll go in first.”
Without hesitation, Flossie pounced right into the pond and disappeared.
Everyone else, jumped in one by one, falling below the surface.
The wolves found themselves surrounded by jewels and crystals.
“Where are we?” Otsanda asked.
“We…we are in the Alta Mountains. That magical puddle warped us to the Alta Mountains!” Gale exclaimed with delight. “I can’t believe it. I’m at the Alta Mountains! The place my mom promised me I’d go to one day!” Gale wagged his tail and whimpered with happiness. Gale went over to a pile of jewels and rubies. He lied down in them.
“Gale, we know you’re having fun and that you’re very happy, but we have to search for Bridget.”
Gale froze. “Oh, right. I forgot all about her.” Gale halted his excitement and stood up.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Let me go! I’m only a pup!” A voice shrieked.
The shriek came from Bridget.
“Bridget’s in trouble!” Otsanda shouted.
“I can smell the ones who have Bridget; follow me!” Convel said. Convel led them to a room. And in the room, there was a large pile of crystals. And in the middle of the pile, a shiny, corn yellow, crystal was there. And it was about the size of an average stone.
But where were the ones who took Bridget?
“Show yourselves! Come out and fight, you brutes!” Otsanda barked. Her words echoed throughout the room. “Come out already! Fight me!”
“I wouldn’t have said that if I were you.” A menacing voice croaked.
A wolf and his gang came out of the shadows.
Tikaani gasped. “Kitchno.” He said under his breath with shock.
One of the wolves in Kitchno’s gang had Bridget clamped into their jaws.
“Bridget!” Convel shouted. “Give her back to us!”
Kitchno crowed with laughter. “Nah, I don’t feel like it. In fact, I don’t want to waste my energy going up to you wolves and giving her to you. Tash, drop the pup.”
The wolf released Bridget. Bridget hit the hard ground.
Her side was a little bloody.
“Now, come and get her.” Kitchno said.
“I’ll get her.” Otsanda whispered to her friends.
“No, Otsanda, I’ll get her.” Tikaani whispered back. He approached Bridget.
Kitchno blinked hard and gasped. “Tikaani…is that you? Is that you I see right now? Tell me, why did you go?”
Tikaani halted himself from walking any closer.
“I was tired of you. I was tired of partaking with you and your devilish activities.” Tikaani said with a low growl in his voice.
“Devilish, you say?” Kitchno hissed. “Who was the one who was desperately looking for a pack to join?”
“You call that a pack, Kitchno? A real wolf pack has members that care about each other. You just care about stealing and crimes. You would let your so-called pack members rot in hell.” Tikaani snarled.
Tikaani began approached Bridget and picked her up and walked back to the others. He gently set Bridget down on the ground so she could rest.
Kitchno growled loudly. “Shut up, Tikaani! You should hear yourself talking right now!”
Tikaani smirked.
And Kitchno lunged.
Moderators, if this is too long, feel free to lock this and warn me as punishment.
It was a crisp and bright day in the Red Bark Forest.
Otsanda, a one year-old she-wolf, was a deep shade of gray with two pools of blue for her eyes. She wagged her tail wildly as she savored the flesh of a doe. Her first hunt was a success. And her pack had just moved into the rendezvous den a few weeks ago. It was about time for her to leave to find a mate, but Otsanda didn’t know this.
“Congratulations, my daughter.” Her father said. Her father had a deep shade of gray too. His eyes were two ponds of yellow.
“Thank you, Father.” Otsanda replied.
Father Wolf licked her cheek. “You have done very well on your first hunt today.”
Otsanda giggled. “I know, I know.”
“You’re mother will be proud too, when we return home.” Father Wolf said softly. Otsanda smiled.
After eating the doe, the two wolves began heading home.
“Nashoba, is that you?” Mother Wolf called as she the smell of her daughter and mate whiffed through her nostrils. Mother Wolf had pure white fur and two ponds of sky blue for her eyes.
“Yes, Makoce. It’s me.” Father Wolf answered as they appeared into the sight of Mother Wolf.
“How was the hunt, Nashoba?” Mother Wolf questioned.
“It went very well. It was successful! Otsanda’s first hunt was well!” Father Wolf exclaimed.
Mother Wolf nuzzled Otsanda. “Wonderful, Otsanda. Truly wonderful.”
Otsanda wagged her tail. The best thing about being an only pup was that she received all the attention. She used to have siblings, but her parents said that they all died at birth and Otsanda was the lucky one.
“Thank you, Mother Wolf.” Otsanda gave her a warm smile.
“You two returned in time. I sensed that a terrible storm is coming. We should stay put.” Mother Wolf explained. Otsanda and Father Wolf nodded.
Then Otsanda decided to grab a snatch of sleep.
Otsanda found a pile of leaves and arranged them into a cozy position, and soon plopped down on them. The leaves crunched as Otsanda lied there.
She licked her nose before grooming herself. She let her pink tongue caress her cloudy gray fur. After cleaning herself, she let her eyes droop. And before she knew it, she was asleep.
Two hours later, when Otsanda awoke, she arose from her pile of leaves. She yawned and stretched. Otsanda scanned the area. It had stormed, indeed. Trees were shedding raindrops, the dirt was soggy and muddy, and the leaves she had been resting on where squishy and soaked. Otsanda searched the area for her parents.
“Mother Wolf, Father Wolf, where are you?” She shouted. She began sniffing the ground, hoping to get a whiff of her parents’ scent.
After a few minutes, her parents approached.
“Otsanda, what’s wrong?” Mother Wolf asked.
“I-I couldn’t find you. I became really scared…” Otsanda replied, trembling with fear.
“Otsanda, the time has come. You must leave.” Father Wolf said painfully.
“Why do I have to leave? You don’t like me anymore?” Otsanda gazed into her father’s eyes.
“Of course I do. Your mother and I love you so much. But you have to go. We’ve just realized you’re a dispersal wolf now.” Father Wolf said.
“What do I have to do when I leave you?” Otsanda asked, still trembling.
“You’re going to have to find a mate. And then start a pack with that wolf. And then your pups will leave to find a mate and so on. You’re in charge of the genetic chain now. If you fail, then the genetic chain will be smashed into millions of tiny bits that can never be repaired.”
Mother Wolf smiled at her. “You can handle this. Finding a mate won’t take that long.”
Otsanda grinned, but was still reluctant to leave her parents.
“Okay, fine. I will leave. I’ll miss you both.”
Her parents gave her a heartwarming smile. “Goodbye, Otsanda. Please be careful.”
Otsanda nodded and sprinted away without another word.
She could tell her beloved home was getting tinier and tinier.
When she was far enough from her home, she collapsed onto the ground.
‘I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused…’ She thought. Otsanda stood back up. She went onto the top of a hill. She emitted a howl.
‘Aaaararrooooooooooooo!’
She looked around, expecting a he-wolf to come behind and say, “Hi there. Let’s be mates”, but that didn’t happen. Otsanda sprinted down the hill, sniffing around for other wolves. She smelt wolves a mile or two away, but could tell that those wolves belonged to a pack, and that she wouldn’t be welcomed to just go barging into some pack’s territory in search of a dispersal male.
She sat down and sighed, as wind whistled through her ears.
“I never knew this was so challenging. Why would my two loving, nice, and wondrous parents have their pup embark on a journey like this?” Otsanda said out loud. “This is just ridiculous!” Otsanda stood up and approached a pond and took a swig of water. After her drink, she went back to asking herself, “Why would wolves make their children do this?”
Otsanda sat down again. “Humph!”
She gazed up at a tree. It rustled and shook. Otsanda spotted a squirrel emerging from it. Otsanda felt her stomach snarl. She wagged her tail and growled.
“You’re mine!” She whispered to herself before she tore after it. The squirrel sensed Otsanda and ran away, in search of a good tree to climb up. When a large oak tree came into sight, the squirrel began crawling up the tree. Otsanda lunged at it, but failed. Her second hunt was a failure.
She walked away from the tree that protected the squirrel, ashamed and hungry.
Luckily, though, Otsanda saw a carcass of a young and puny doe up ahead. It still had loads of meat on it. Otsanda shuffled up to the carcass. She buried her face into the doe’s squishy flesh.
Otsanda was quite surprised the crows hadn’t already devoured the doe. She looked up from the doe just to be face to face with a he-wolf with white fur that also had splotches of black on it. His eyes were two ponds of yellow. “What are you doing, little flower?” The wolf questioned. His voice was serious and bold.
“Um, I was eating.”
“You were eating my kill.”
Otsanda backed away. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t hurt me.” Otsanda began showing signs of submission and fear.
The wolf growled, but then stopped.
“Don’t worry. I know you didn’t mean to. You’re just like me. You’re a dispersing wolf, aren’t you, flower?”
Otsanda nodded. “My name is…Otsanda.” Otsanda said very shyly.
“Nice name. I’m Convel.” The wolf said.
Otsanda reapproached Convel.
“So, Convel; want to be my mate?” Otsanda questioned nervously.
Convel blinked hard. “What?” Convel had been searching for a mate for a while now.
“I was assuming that you’d want to be my mate.” Otsanda said.
“I don’t know. I mean, you’re a very beautiful she-wolf, but I don’t know if I should or not...” Convel said quietly.
Otsanda smiled. “Take all the time you need to decide.” She let her tail wag wildly.
Convel looked down and sighed, before resting his sight back on Otsanda.
“Well…I…”
“Yes?”
“Um…” Convel walked closer to Otsanda and sniffed her. He began sniffing her rear, her lower body, and her face, and then shyly backing away every few seconds. Otsanda smiled. She’d probably get a new mate AND a new nickname!
Otsanda wagged her tail as she was sniffed. And she too began sniffing Convel.
The two wolves giggled as they sniffed each other.
“You’re very attracting, Otsanda.” Convel said.
“Why thank you…” Otsanda replied. “You’re pretty interesting yourself.” Otsanda gently rested her nose on Convel’s and stood very close to him. Touching noses and standing very close to another was wolf’s body was a wolf’s way of showing affection.
“I want to be your mate, Convel.” Otsanda said.
“Me too.” Convel licked the corner of her mouth. Otsanda giggled with embarrassment.
“I guess we are mates now.” Otsanda chuckled. “Want to go hunting for deer?”
Convel nodded. “Sure, Flower.”
The two newly paired wolves began sniffing out a herd of deer.
The scents that their noses harbored were scattered everywhere by the wind.
When they found a small herd of deer, they scanned each member of the herd, looking for the weakest one. The deer they would kill would be amputated from its life. Otsanda began stepping on leaves.
“Shh! Flower, what are you doing? Making too much noise will scare the herd away.” Convel growled.
“We want them to run. Running will make it easier to spot which one we’ll kill.” Otsanda whispered. Convel nodded.
Otsanda crushed one more leaf and the herd began tearing away. Otsanda and Convel scanned the exposed herd. Otsanda spotted a large, healthy buck. Father Wolf always told Otsanda to get the sick, elderly, or a fawn. But Otsanda preferred to get the healthiest and plump ones. She loved challenges.
“Okay…now! Let’s go after that buck” Otsanda exclaimed.
“Alright, let’s go!” Convel and Otsanda dashed after the buck.
When Otsanda became close enough to the buck’s rear, she nipped it and the buck let out a grunt of pain.
Convel buried his fangs into the buck. The buck screamed.
Otsanda mimicked Convel’s action. The buck finally collapsed, grunting with pain.
Otsanda delivered the final blow which would cease the buck’s life. She clenched onto the buck’s neck. The buck inhaled air, but couldn’t exhale it. The buck’s eyes flickered close a few times before the eyes were closed for good. “Wow, Otsanda; you were outstanding. You’re making me envy your skills.” Convel admitted.
“Thank you…” Otsanda said shyly. “…your nice words warm my heart.”
Convel smiled. He nuzzled her. Otsanda gasped with excitement. She was so surprised that she couldn’t stop her tail from swaying right to left. Otsanda nuzzled him back.
“Well, Convel,” Otsanda began. “Let’s dig in.” She stopped nuzzling him.
“Oh, right. I forgot about our kill.” Convel and Otsanda both began feasting on the buck. Otsanda gnawed on the chewy and fleshy meat. She licked the crimson off her lips. It was thin and runny. After the meal, Convel and Otsanda left the hunting ground.
“So Convel, why don’t we find a place to live? Don’t you think we should build a den site for the pups?”
Convel blinked hard. “Pups? You want pups?”
“Well aren’t we supposed to have pups?” Convel licked the corner of his mate’s mouth. “Yes…that’s true. Very true. Maybe we should look for a home?” Convel asked. “Yes, I would really like that. Let’s go.” Otsanda and Convel trotted around, in search of a good place to create a home. Otsanda and Convel came across a large, grassy valley.
“Convel, there are no materials to build a den here…” Otsanda said.
Convel looked across the valley. The valley was vacant. Only a lonesome pond was in the valley.
“You’re right. Maybe we should look for something just slightly outside the valley. There should be some collapsed trees somewhere outside the valley, what do you think?”
“Sure. It wouldn’t hurt to look.”
Otsanda and Convel tore across the valley.
Otsanda felt so alive and great dashing beside the love of her life. When they finally made it out of the valley, many trees reappeared. The wolves searched for collapsed trees or large indents in the grounds. Otsanda spotted an indent in a hill that had fallen trees and shrubs surrounding it. Otsanda carelessly squeezed into the indent.
“Flower, what are you doing?” Convel questioned.
“Just seeing…” she paused. “…just seeing if this den is right enough.” She squeezed herself out of the tight burrow.
“It’s…it is perfect. But I can smell that other wolves have been here. Maybe wolves lived here and then abandoned this den and then went to the rendezvous den site.” Otsanda explained.
Convel looked down at his fuzzy paws. “I remember the time I went to the rendezvous den site with my parents. I was almost killed. I remember being snatched up by that eagle. I was fastened to his talons. I felt the eagle’s talons pierce my flesh. I yelped in pain. My parents looked back to see the eagle getting ready to fly off with me. But they managed to snatch him and kill him. My back was blooding and…” Convel paused. “I just can’t go on anymore.”
Otsanda nuzzled Convel. “It’s okay. I’m here for you…”
Convel smiled at his mate. “Thank you…that memory still stabs me today.”
“I’m sorry that it does. Maybe you’re just still a little traumatized.”
“Probably so. But anyways, let’s forget about my memories and worry about finding a home.”
“I agree. But do you want this den or not?” Otsanda examined the den again. “The den is strikingly beautiful.”
“I don’t know about it. I mean, what if those wolves that used to live here came back here?” A worried Convel questioned.
“They won’t Convel. I promise.”
“Are you sure, Flower?”
Otsanda wagged her tail.
“Yes, I am positive.” Otsanda smiled. “And by the way,”
“Yes, Flower?” Convel said.
“I like it if you’d call me Otsanda more often.” Otsanda chuckled.
”Surely, Otsanda.” Convel said in the most loving manner he could find.
“I guess this is our den now?” Otsanda asked.
“Otsanda, are you sure you want this den?” Convel began. “…because we can always keep looking.”
Otsanda nodded rapidly. “Yes, yes, and yes!”
Convel grinned. “Okay, you win. Let’s stay here. And in a few minutes, we should get scent marking.”
Otsanda squealed with delight. “Yay! Thank you, Convel.”
Otsanda began dancing around, yapping with happiness.
Convel couldn’t help but laugh a little. His mate was practically an adult, like himself, but still acted very childish like a pup.
Otsanda eventually returned to Convel’s side, panting.
“Whew! Convel, my mouth is sultry. Why don’t we look for a drink?” Otsanda suggested.
“We can go back to that pond we saw.”
“Good idea. Let’s go.” The two wolves trotted away from the den, trying to locate the pond again.
“Ahh; here it is.” Otsanda carelessly stepped into the pond, letting the water soak her shady fur.
Convel nervously went into the chilly water. “Ergh; this water is a little cold, don’t you think?”
“It feels fine. Stop worrying so much.” Otsanda slowly lapped up water.
“If you say so.” Convel cautiously sipped water. Otsanda smiled.
“I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
The wolves continued draining water until a pure white wolf with blue eyes and a small gash on his thigh appeared.
Otsanda stepped out of the water, gleaming at the pure white wolf. She hung her tail up high and tried to look dominant and strong and fierce.
The wolf hesitated to approach her at first but then received the confidence to.
The wolf walked up to her and sniffed her. Otsanda growled.
“Get away from me!” she warned.
Convel glared at the wolf. He approached Otsanda and the white wolf.
“Get away from us NOW.” Convel said darkly. His words were bone-chilling and scary.
The white wolf backed away. “I’m sorry. I was just going to ask for your help. But your mate smelled irresistible.”
“Okay, okay, whatever. Just tell me your problem and I won’t hurt you.” Convel said. He was willing to help the wolf with his problem, but he was still suspicious.
“While chasing a doe on a hunting foray in a gorge, my mate, Flossie was jabbed by an angry buck’s antler. I managed to scare the buck off. After the buck stormed away with his herd, Flossie was lying down, with a gash in her thigh. She told me to get help. And now I’m here. By the way, my name is Gale.” The wolf explained.
“Okay, take us to your mate, Gale.” Otsanda said. “Take us to her before it’s too late.”
Gale nodded. He dashed away, with Otsanda and Convel dashing behind.
Their paws hammered the ground fiercely as the wolves rushed to the scene. Flossie was lying by a bush, with her eyes shut tight.
When they made it to Flossie’s side, Gale said, “Flossie, are you alright?”
Flossie’s eyes snapped open. “Huh, Gale, is that you?”
“Yeah, I’m here, but I brought help along too.”
Flossie gave Otsanda and Convel a friendly gleam before turning back to Gale.
“Gale, help me rise.” Flossie made an attempt to stand. Otsanda, Convel and Gale helped Flossie stand. Flossie yelped when she did, but stayed strong.
“Who are these wolves anyway, Gale?”
“This is Otsanda and Convel.”
Flossie gazed at Otsanda and Convel. “Why hello there. Thank you for helping me.”
“My pleasure, Flossie.” Otsanda said softly.
“Yeah, we didn’t want Gale to lose you.” Convel said, flashing a striking smile at Flossie.
“I guess we’ll be taking our separate ways now, eh?” Gale questioned. Otsanda thought for a moment. “No; we won’t.”
“What?” Gale gasped. “What do you mean?”
”I want you two to come with us.”
“Where are we going to go?”
”Convel and I found a den, hoping that we’d raise pups there…this may sound kind of wrong…but I’m not all ready to have pups. Ever since I was a little puppy myself, I loved wandering around and exploring. And I still do. Why don’t we…” Otsanda paused. “explore the wonders of our enormous home? Let’s journey the forest and explore everything! Wouldn’t that be fun? I mean, we’d meet others; wouldn’t that be nice?”
Convel, Gale and Flossie stared at her for a while.
“Are you sure, Otsanda? I thought we became mates to start a family. That’s what we’re supposed to do, right?” Convel said.
Otsanda turned away and emitted a sigh.
“I knew you wolves wouldn’t understand.” Otsanda said darkly. “Why does everyone always have to do stuff the right way?!” Otsanda barked.
“Otsanda, calm down.” Convel said softly.
“Yeah, Otsanda; why we just—” Gale’s words were smashed by Otsanda’s angry voice.
“Zip it, Gale! I’m tired off always doing stuff the right way!” Otsanda growled. Then she turned back to Convel with a glare.
“As for you, Convel!” she began. “It’s sounds like you’re trying to force me into having pups!”
Convel blinked hard. “What?! Otsanda, I’d never make you do such a thing!”
Otsanda turned away again. “That’s it. I’m finished with this. I’m leaving.”
“But Otsanda…” Flossie peeped. “What’re going to do?”
“I’m going to become a loner. I can do things the way I want and only worry myself. Goodbye.”
Otsanda stormed away.
“Otsanda!” Convel began walking after her, but was halted by Gale. “Convel, let her go.”
Convel sighed with defeat and let his ears fall back. “Fine. But what am I to do with no mate…I worked so hard to find her…and I lost her. I don’t know what to do now.” Convel said.
“You should search for a new mate, Convel. Maybe you weren’t ready for her.” Gale suggested.
Convel gave a goodbye nod and trudged away.
Meanwhile, Otsanda was walking through hunting ground with foliage everywhere, looking for deer. The sky was gloomy, gray and depressing. White sacks in the sky were filled with rainwater. The sacks would soon explode, rainwater spilling out everywhere.
Otsanda discovered a family of deer. There was a buck, a doe, and a fawn.
Otsanda walked into a patch of tall grass. The grass tickled her nose, but this didn’t stop her from making a kill.
She decided to set her sights on the fawn, since she wasn’t that hungry.
Then the she-wolf purposely stepped on a leaf.
The doe and the buck raised their heads from grazing and scanned the area, looking for predators. But they couldn’t spot Otsanda. This was Otsanda’s chance! Now that the parents were distracted, she could easily take out the fawn.
Otsanda launched herself at the fawn. She tackled it and began to do what she had to do. The fawn screamed, alerting the doe and the buck.
The doe and the buck made a few false charges to frighten away Otsanda, but the fawn was already dead.
Otsanda savored the fawn’s blood and then began devouring it. She gorged on the meaty insides.
Her chin became covered in the fawn’s blood.
The doe and the buck watched from a distance in horror.
The deer were both sad that they had lost their child.
But Otsanda showed no remorse and care that the deer were watching their child getting eaten up.
After Otsanda’s snack, she trudged away.
When she was about ten feet away from the fawn’s carcass, she turned around and looked at the mournful doe and buck. They sniffed the carcass and investigated it.
Otsanda watched, blood dripping from her mouth.
She stood there, watching them with no feeling.
Then she walked away and didn’t turn back. Otsanda spotted an enormous ravine filled with water. She began heading for it. She walked down into it, but didn’t go into the water. The water was only about five feet deep, but something told her not to cross it. A few seconds later, it began showering rain.
Otsanda let the rain drops smash against her fur. She gently sat down and then lied down. She dozed off for eight minutes just to wake up nearly underwater.
The rain was filling up the ravine! Otsanda stood up, scared. The rain was filling up the ravine quick. But Otsanda still had a hangover from her eight minute nap and was dizzy and sleepy. She ended up collapsing on the ground.
“No!” She screamed at herself. A wave of water splashed her face. This awakened her. Otsanda finally made a decision. It could claim her life, but it was a decision.
Otsanda decided to cross the ravine. The ravine was dangerous and could drown her, but she’d try to get across. She jumped into the water. The water wasn’t too cold. Lightning danced and thunder boomed. Otsanda began paddling across. It was so far, so good. More rain whooshed down from the sacks in the sky. It smashed against Otsanda. Otsanda screamed with fear as a few droplets got into her eyes. But she kept paddling. Otsanda took a quick look back. The place where she had fallen asleep was blanketed with water.
Otsanda looked away. She wasn’t too far from the other side now!
Otsanda looked up. Rain droplets almost fell in her eyes. She heard and saw trees collapse and tumble down into the ravine. Otsanda gasped. She blinked. And she snapped open her eyes to see a tree tumbling down her way.
Otsanda could almost see herself in heaven already.
Otsanda ducked just in time. The tree missed her.
A wave whooshed on top of Otsanda. She swallowed loads of water. When her head came back above water, she found herself coughing back up the water she had swallowed. But whilst she was doing this, a tree rolled down the ravine and onto Otsanda. It bumped her head. She went underwater, scared out of her mind. She saw blood go up above her. Otsanda swallowed more water. ‘So I guess this is the end of me…’ She thought. ‘I bet this is the time I die. Well, that’s what I get for committing such a stupid action…’
Otsanda felt herself sinking slowly. The she-wolf passed out. But then a miracle happened.
Something grabbed her, but Otsanda couldn’t feel it, of course. She was unconscious. The something dragged her out of the deadly ravine. The something had dragged her to the other side. The next day, when Otsanda awoke, she discovered that she was alive.
She was lying in a pile of leaves and a he-wolf was watching her.
“Where am I?” she asked weakly.
“Otsanda, you’re alive!” The he-wolf said. It was Convel!
Otsanda smiled and stood up. She nuzzled Convel.
“Convel, thank you. I thought I was going to die.” Otsanda said.
“But you didn’t; you’re okay!” Convel nuzzled her back.
The wolves wagged their tails.
“I’m sorry of what happened yesterday, Otsanda.” Convel said.
“It’s okay. I think we should just start a family, like you wanted.” Otsanda smiled.
Convel rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“Are you kidding me? Maybe we should start a family later, let’s travel with Gale and Flossie!” Convel said.
Otsanda wagged her tail faster. “Yes, Yes and yes!” Otsanda squeaked. “But where are Gale and Flossie?”
“Right here. I managed to find them when I rescued you.”
Gale and Flossie emerged out of some bushes.
“Otsanda, you’re okay!” They both gave her friendly nuzzles.
“I know. I’m glad to be alive.” Otsanda smiled at them.
“So where should we start traveling first?” Flossie questioned.
“My mother always told me of a place called Alta Mountains. My mother said that her own mother visited Alta Mountains. And she said it was gorgeous.” Gale peeped shyly.
“Really?” Otsanda said, fascinated.
Gale nodded. “My mom said she’d take me there one day. But never did.”
Convel tilted his head. “W-why not?”
“My mom was killed.” Gale said. A shower of pain engulfed him.
“How was she killed?” Otsanda questioned, her ears going flat.
“She was murdered. She was murdered by a gang of wolves.” Gale replied. “I remember the bloody fight. I remember dashing away, abandoning her corpse and I…”
“Shh, Gale. Don’t talk about your mother anymore. I know you miss her, but I don’t want you to feel hurt…” Flossie said, nuzzling her mate.
“But anyway, can you wolves help me get there? I want to see Alta Mountains so badly! Can you please Flossie and I get there?” Gale pleaded.
Otsanda smiled and chuckled. “Sure, we’d love to.”
“Is Alta Mountains far?” Convel asked.
Gale shook his head, but then halted that action. “My mom told me it could take a few days to reach Alta Mountains.” Gale answered. “And she said you’d run into small deer herds along the way.”
“So does that mean food is plentiful?” Flossie said.
“Yes. There shouldn’t be any delays.” Gale smiled at his buddies.
“When should we depart?”
“Let’s head for Alta Mountains in two days, how about it? My mom told me that it’s full of mystical diamonds and jewels.”
“Sure!” Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Why don’t we head out for a hunt?” Otsanda suggested.
“Well, I am kind of hungry.” Convel said.
“Yeah, let’s go find something to eat.”
“I’ll gather berries.” Flossie said. “You guys can go on and hunt.”
“Are you sure, Flossie? I don’t want you to get hurt again.” a worried Gale said.
“I’ll be fine, Gale. Go get deer with Convel and Otsanda.” Flossie smiled. “I promise; I’ll be fine.”
Gale and Flossie nuzzled each other. “Okay, Flossie. Please be careful.”
“Come on, let’s go, Gale. We need to go find food.” Otsanda said.
The three wolves set off in search of deer.
They let scents flow through their noses.
When their noses led them to a valley, the smell of deer thickened.
“We should wait here; maybe a herd might come to graze.” Convel said.
“What makes you think that, Convel?” Gale asked.
“Well, the scent of deer is everywhere and this grass is perfect for eating.” Convel replied.
The blades of grass tickled Otsanda’s nose. She giggled as the blade brushed against her nose.
“Hey, here comes a…” Convel paused and everyone became excited. “Here comes a butterfly!”
Otsanda halted her excitement. “You say it’s just a butterfly? You hyped us up over a stupid butterfly?” Otsanda scolded.
Convel looked down with shame, like a toddler who had just gotten in trouble with his mother.
“Hey, look!” Gale shouted. “It’s a mother bear and her two cubs! Maybe if we can, we can snatch one!”
Indeed, a bear was trotting around with her young.
“The mother bear won’t let us.” Convel said.
“That’s not stopping us. Let’s go. We can distract the mother and take one of her young away. It’s risky, but man, I’m famished!” Otsanda crowed.
The wolves silently went out to confront the make a kill.
When they were in the bear’s sight, the bear stood up on her front paws and roared, in an attempt to intimidate the hungry wolves.
“Go away!” she shouted at them. “Hurt my young and you’ll end up like them!”
“Silly bear; you can’t scare us.” Otsanda said in a dark, evil tone. The wolves circled here. The bear stood over her cubs, roaring. White and foamy drool plummeted from her mouth.
“Let us be, you foolish wolves.” The bear pleaded. “I will not hesitate to kill each and every one of you!”
Gale stopped circling the bear and slowly made his way to one of her cubs.
Otsanda and Convel halted their circling also and stood in front of the bear, distracting her with their words.
Then there was a yowl. It came from one of bear cubs.
“Mother Bear, the wolf has me!” a female cub screamed.
The bear whirled around and saw Gale trying to maim and mutilate the cub.
The mother bear gave an ear-shattering roar.
The bear swiped Gale and ultimately, knocked him out. She knocked out Gale with just one swipe!
And since Gale was unconscious, he unwillingly released the cub from his grip. The bear turned around to face Otsanda and Convel again.
She roared once more. This time, drool smashing right onto their faces.
“Otsanda,” Convel whispered.
Otsanda shivered. “Y-yeah, Convel?”
“I just wet myself.” Convel said with an embarrassed tone.
The bear made an attempt to swipe the two wolves, but the wolves dodged the attack.
The wolves tore away. The bear raced after them, however, leaving her cubs behind.
Her first cub, the female one, dashed away. The male one, however, stayed and investigated Gale’s motionless body.
“Convel, she’s right after behind our tails’!” Otsanda hollered.
“Maybe we should find a way to outrun her or something like that!” Convel hollered back, hearing the bear’s ferocious roars behind them.
“Let’s go different ways!” Otsanda suggested.
“No, that won’t work! Maybe we should face the bear?” Convel replied.
“Are you crazy? That huge, drooling and angry thing knocked out Gale!” Otsanda barked.
Convel smiled at Otsanda. “Otsanda, we can do this.”
The wolves stopped running and turned around to face the bear.
“You two wolves decided to give up your lives to me? Smart decision. I mean, I couldn’t just keep running after you for hours and hours.” The grizzly chuckled.
Otsanda growled and lunged at the grizzly. The grizzly made an attempt to swipe her from the air, but failed.
Otsanda found her jaws latched onto the bear’s face. She began to maul on her face, and she let herself morsel the tiny parts she took off. The grizzly detonated a roar that could frighten the fur off of a fox.
The grizzly snatched Otsanda off her face as if she were a weightless rag and slammed her down onto the dirt. Otsanda yelped with pain. She stood up weakly and looked around. Everything looked distorted and wiggly. She wobbled in place.
Convel snarled at the bear and lunged at her rear. He clamped his fangs onto her short tail.
The bear roared and shook her rear. “Get off of me, you no-good wolf!”
Convel didn’t let go. He gave her tail a good tug and the bear yowled in pain.
When Convel let go, the tail was drenched in blood. The bear quickly looked at her wounded tail.
“Otsanda, are you okay?” Convel questioned.
“Yeah, just a little dizzy, that’s all.” Otsanda answered. “Now let’s get away, before the bear resumes trying to kill us. Maybe Gale will be awake.”
Convel nodded and they both hurried away.
When they made it back to where they had encountered the bear, they spotted an awake, but very weak and tired, Gale.
“Gale, you’re okay.” Otsanda gave him a friendly nuzzle. Right next to Gale, there was a dead male bear cub.
“I killed the cub as soon as I awoke.”
There was a burgundy liquid all over the lifeless cub. “Let’s dig in, shall we?” Convel said, drool dropping from his mouth.
“Well, I am starved. Let’s—wait!” Otsanda barked.
“I don’t want to wait, I want to eat!” Gale growled.
“No, I mean, who’s the strongest here? Only the strongest and most dominant may eat first.” Otsanda explained. “We should do the right thing and take turns eating.”
“Otsanda, you said you hated doing things the right way all the time.” Convel mumbled.
“I know but something tells me I should be eating first!” Otsanda said.
“No, I think I earned it the most. After all, I killed it.” Gale said proudly.
“That wasn’t a real kill! You were unconscious while Convel and I were nearly killed by that crazy she-bear!” Otsanda snarled.
“Guys, why don’t we just eat it together?” Convel suggested.
“No, I want to eat first! You’re going to have to wait in line!”
“O-Otsanda, we have a problem.” Convel whispered, scared out of his mind.
“What is it?!” Otsanda barked.
“It’s the bear.” Convel said. Otsanda turned around. The bear was there, indeed! The bear began plotting her attacks in her head on the wolves, but stopped when she realized her cub had been killed, she lost interest in trying to annihilate the wolves.
She sat down by the corpse and moaned with sorrow, poking the corpse.
The wolves were gone in a jiffy.
When they made it back to where they had been camping out, they spotted Flossie.
“Flossie, did you find anything to eat?” They questioned.
“Yeah, here are some berries.” Flossie introduced them into a pile of berries.
“Floss, have you been eating some?” Otsanda laughed.
“No, why do you think that?” Flossie said, trying to seem unsuspicious.
“You have blue and purple stains all over your face.” Convel pointed out. Everyone smirked.
“Okay, okay, you caught me. I only ate about five…or nine of them?” Flossie said.
Everyone laughed, including Flossie.
“It is okay, Floss. Let’s just divide the berries and then we’ll dig in.” Gale said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. The wolves began dividing the berries up. Each had their equal share. The remaining berries were never eaten by any of them, since the wolves wanted to be fair.
After eating, the wolves just sat together and chatted.
“Gale, are you sure we should go to Alta Mountain?” Flossie asked Gale for the ninth time.
“Flossie, I’m sure. Stop worrying so much, okay?” Gale nuzzled her.
“Yeah, Floss. Chill out. I’m sure everything will go out awesome!” Otsanda giggled.
Everyone crowed.
“Ooh, someone left these berries here! I’d better eat them, they look good to eat!” A voice of a jolly she-wolf said.
“Who’s there?!” Convel demanded. They walked up to the she-wolf.
The she-wolf was just a pup and gasped and backed away. “Please, spare me! I just became hungry! Don’t hurt me, please!” The she-wolf begged.
“Convel, it’s just a little pup, don’t hurt her. Pup, give me your name.” Otsanda said.
“My name’s Bridget…” The pup whispered. The pup had white and gray fur and bright yellow eyes.
“What was that?”
“My name is Bridget. And I’m only a month old.” The pup said a little bit louder.
“Okay, Bridget, where are your parents?”
Bridget sniffled and whimpered. “They died yesterday. They were murdered by a mean white wolf with bright blue eyes and he had an X shaped scar on his neck. I managed to escape safely. I miss them so much…I don’t even know what to do. I’m afraid that the wolf will search for me and kill me, too!” Bridget explained, shivering.
“Oh, that’s just terrible!” Gale exclaimed. He looked at Otsanda. “Well, what should we do?”
Otsanda thought for a moment. “Bridget, how about we take of you? We’ll be your family, now. Do you like that?” Otsanda questioned.
Bridget nodded rapidly. “Yes, I love that! Thank you! Can you tell me what your names are now?”
The wolves each told Bridget their names.
“Yay! I’m so happy! May I go eat those berries now?” Bridget asked.
Everyone nodded and Bridget rocketed off to get to the uneaten berries. The berries vanished in a minute. Then Bridget collapsed.
“BRIDGET!” Everyone screamed.
Flossie went over to Bridget’s body. She sniffed her. “She’s still alive. Bridget just fell asleep. Maybe she was really tired?”
“Yeah, I guess so. And look, it’s almost dusk. We’ve done enough today. Let’s get some sleep.” Convel yawned.
Everyone, except Bridget (of course because she already was asleep), lied down and went to sleep.
The first thing Otsanda heard when she awoke the next day was crunching and chewing.
She stood up to see everyone eating from a doe carcass.
“Good morning, everyone. I see that we’ve all started eating without me. Why is that?” Otsanda asked.
“Oh hey, Otsanda. Sorry we started eating without you. We didn’t want to disturb you.” Convel said, grinning.
“Well, did you guys save me some? I’m starved.” Otsanda asked.
“Yeah, we saw this doe wandering around here. She was an easy kill. We just killed her, actually. And now, we’re dining on her. Join us.” Flossie smiled at Otsanda.
Otsanda smiled back and sat down with everyone else, eating the doe along with everyone else. After breakfast, Otsanda, Convel, Flossie, Gale, and Bridget, decided to leave the place they had been camping out at and decided to take the trip to the mountains early.
“So which way do we go first, Gale? And how do we know we’re going the right way?”
“My mom said that Alta Mountains is surrounded by a blanket of these flowers called Violet Void flowers. Some say that are used to keep thieves out.” Gale explained. He pointed to one with his paw.
It had deep purple petals and a light shade of green for a stem. Thorns were attached to the stem.
“They are so beautiful.” An amazed Otsanda said.
“Yeah, but watch out for the thorns. If they give you a good stab, it’ll feel dangerously unpleasant. So as we venture to the mountains, watch where you step, okay?” Gale warned.
“Gale, we’ll be careful. Now let’s go. We’ve already spotted one Violet Void flower, so maybe we aren’t too far after all. Let’s go!” Flossie said.
Everyone nodded and everyone looked up ahead. They could see the tiny point of the mountain. It looked like a big gray hill. But it wasn’t.
Otsanda scooped up Bridget, because she probably wouldn’t be able to keep up.
And then the wolves broke into a run for the Alta Mountains.
Paws hammered the ground, making crows fly away.
The wolves would run until dusk, and would only stop three times for ten minutes to rest.
When the dusk came, the wolves collapsed onto the ground. They were all exhausted.
“My legs feel so sore…” Convel said, breaking into a series of pants.
Otsanda set Bridget down. “I’m tired…” Otsanda said in a hushed voice. She sprawled out on the grass and panted.
“I’m starving.” Gale growled. “Why don’t we eat the pup?”
Bridget whimpered and hid behind Otsanda.
“Gale, we aren’t going to eat Bridget.” Otsanda snarled.
“We’ll have to skip food tonight. Tomorrow morning, we can go hunting.” Flossie said.
“But I’m hungry right now.” Bridget complained.
Gale rolled his eyes. Convel looked down at the grass and saw a rat scurrying by with fear.
Convel broke after it and returned in seconds. “Here, Bridget. Eat this.” Convel set the rat in front of her.
Bridget picked at it for a few seconds, but then in a few minutes, only the rat’s small bones remained.
“Are you still hungry, Bridget?”
“Yes, a little.”
”Sorry, but you’ll have to wait for more food tomorrow.”
“Let’s get some sleep.”
It was a fitful night. The wolves were so hungry.
Before the sun even came up, the wolves were already out on a hunting foray. Bridget even tagged along. The wolves decided to teach her hunting tactics, even though they thought it was a bit early for her to hunt.
“Do you see any deer yet?” Bridget asked for the nineteenth time.
“Shh, Bridget. We’ll be doing the hunting today. You will watch from us and learn.” Convel explained with a hushed tone.
“But I want to hunt and—” Bridget’s words were sliced off.
“Look, deer!” Otsanda whispered.
Everyone looked at the deer, except for Bridget, who couldn’t observe very well in the tall grass.
“Let’s get that one!” Flossie said. “The young doe looks mighty good. She makes my mouth water!”
“Okay, let’s go get her. Bridget, you stay here.” Otsanda said.
“But I want to hunt the doe with you!” Bridget whined. She wagged her tail fiercely.
“Bridget, you can watch us hunt the doe. We don’t want you to injure yourself trying to help us hunt, okay?” Convel said sternly.
“Please, let me hunt with you! Watching is boring!” Bridget said, raising her voice.
“BRIDGET, NO!” Everyone growled.
“Stay here, Bridge.” Gale said. “You can watch us. This hunt won’t take long.”
Bridget sat down and broke her ears back and stopped wagging her tail.
She watched Convel, Otsanda, Gale and Flossie break away after the doe.
Bridget whimpered. She sat there in silence for about twenty-seven minutes.
But then there was a shriek of terror.
“OTSANDA!”
Bridget stood up and began her way to the scene.
The doe that Convel, Otsanda, Gale, and Flossie had been trying to hunt down was being protected by a buck.
Otsanda’s shoulder had nearly been shredded open by the bull’s sharp antlers. The shoulder was completely covered in blood.
The buck charged at Otsanda, trying to finish her off.
Convel jumped in front of Otsanda and lunged at the buck’s throat. And before Bridget could blink, she was observing Convel clamping onto the buck’s throat.
Convel snarled, “You don’t hurt my mate!”
He sank his fangs deeper into the buck. Blood dripped from the buck’s throat.
Finally, Convel let go, thinking that he had done enough damage to the buck and the buck would die on his own.
The buck gored Convel in his rear. Convel screamed in pain. He fell down right next to Otsanda.
Bridget stood there, viewing the scene in horror.
Flossie and Gale both lunged at the buck, biting it in various places.
The buck stopped goring Convel and turned around to Gale and Flossie. The buck tried to stab one of the wolves with his antlers. Flossie successfully dodged, but Gale ended up with a small gash on his side. Gale and Flossie ran to Convel and Otsanda’s side.
The buck snorted with anger. “I’m tired of you pathetic wolves trying to wipe out our kind!” He roared.
The buck charged, this time determined to end all of the wolves.
“NOOOOOO!” A voice shrieked. The buck became startled.
Then, the unthinkable happened.
Bridget’s pupils dilated. Bridget charged at the buck. She bit the buck’s leg. Even though her fangs were still small, she was still drawing blood. She tore the belly open and blood spilled out.
The buck yowled in pain. The buck tried to stab her with his antlers, but Bridget was just a pup and she was still small, so, she dodged his antlers and his fierce kicks.
And Bridget slid right under the buck and bit his belly. Blood spilled out.
“We have to help Bridget!” Flossie said to Gale.
“You’re right, let’s go!”
Flossie and Gale launched another attack on the buck. Finally, out of all the damage the buck had taken, he began going down.
“You wolves…” The buck paused. “you wolves had defeated me. I give in. End me. End me now. I cannot take anymore pain and damage.” And with that, the buck collapsed onto the hard forest floor.
“We killed the buck.” Flossie said, wearing a cloak of surprise on her face. “He’s dead.”
“I know. Let’s help Otsanda and Convel first. Maybe their injuries aren’t as bad as they seem.”
Gale and Flossie rushed back to Otsanda and Convel’s side.
Otsanda’s shoulder and Convel’s rear were laced in blood. Otsanda looked up to Flossie and Gale. Her tongue was hanging out, and it was stained in blood. She had been licking her wound.
“Gale, Flossie, do not worry about us this moment. What happened to Bridget?” Otsanda said unemotionally. Her azure blue eyes were wide and still.
Gale and Flossie set their sights on Bridget. She was lying on the ground, motionless as ever.
Gale and Flossie quickly dashed to her.
“Bridget, wake up. Are you okay?”
Bridget rolled over to face Gale and Flossie. “What happened, Bridget? How did you do that? You sick’ed that buck real good.” Gale asked.
“I don’t know…something just hit me. The only thing I can remember is falling to the ground after tearing the buck’s stomach open. And waking up to you two, of course.”
Gale and Flossie swapped surprised looks.
“Bridget, are you sure? You don’t remember anything other than waking up?” Flossie questioned.
“No, I don’t remember a thing.” Bridget stood up. “We should help Otsanda and Convel now. They are seriously hurt.”
“Okay, Bridget. If you say so.”
The wolves all assisted Convel and Otsanda. They helped them lick the blood off their wounds. When Convel and Otsanda became healthy enough to walk around and get back to their normal selves, everyone was relieved.
And then they began on the buck. It was a big relief to finally have something to munch on. The only thing that remained of the buck was a meatless skeleton.
“Whoa, this is the fullest I’ve been in weeks!” Otsanda exclaimed, lying on a soft pile of dirt.
“I’m totally refreshed. Despite the injuries Otsanda and Convel took, I think we will be able to walk some more miles until sundown. Hopefully, Otsanda and Convel’s injuries will heal soon.” Flossie said.
“I think you’re right, Flossie. My shoulder should take a few weeks to heal, but Convel’s butt should take a few months!” Otsanda blurted out.
Everyone broke into a laugh, except for Convel, who just smiled.
“Ha-ha. Good one Otsanda. We should continue heading to the Alta Mountains. I want to see the jewels and diamonds already!” Convel said.
Everyone nodded in agreement and continued heading for the Alta Mountains.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
“Boss, are you sure there’s anything here that contains powers?” Tikaani questioned.
Tikaani was a young male wolf with cocoa brown fur and bright yellow eyes.
“Oh, shut up, Tikaani. Of course there are things like that here, and you know that.” Kitchno growled.
Kitchno was a deep gray wolf with an enormous scar on his right leg. Kitchno had deep yellow eyes. He was also traveling to the Alta Mountains with a large group of troubled wolves. And he was way ahead of Otsanda and the others. Kitchno was searching for things that hold massive amounts of power. He was going to steal whatever amazing things he could find, whether they had mystical powers or not.
“And as long as we don’t run into other wolves that might tell the Wolf Council, we might get to escape with a variety of diamonds and other jewels. So shut your little yapper before someone hears us, okay?” Kitchno scolded.
Tikaani whimpered.
“Kitchno, sir, the clouds are darkening. A storm must be approaching. We should stop and wait until it passes.” One wolf said.
Kitchno stopped walking and whirled around and looked at the wolf who had said that.
He jogged up to the wolf and tackled him. He managed to pin him down,
“We will NOT be stopping for anything!” Kitchno barked and gave the wolf a menacing look.
The pinned wolf let his ears fall back and he whimpered with fear.
Kitchno stepped off of the wolf and began heading toward the Alta Mountains again. Everyone followed, except for the wolf that had been pinned down. The wolf turned around and dashed away in the opposite direction. He was finished participating with Kitchno and his devious little plans.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
“The clouds look very dark. I think it’s going to rain soon.” Bridget chirped.
“We’ve been walking for a while now, anyway, so maybe it is good we stop.” Flossie answered.
Everyone walked under a large oak tree and lied down.
“I still hope we can find diamonds and rubies and other jewels at the Alta Mountains.” Convel said.
“Yeah, that would be great if we could bring back some souvenirs.” Otsanda agreed “But what shall we do after we complete our trip to the Alta Mountains?”
Everyone was hushed for a few minutes.
“I KNOW!” Bridge blurted out. “A week before I lost my parents, I always had heard of an ancient ruin that is a great distance from where we are now. It has mystical writing all over the walls that have not been said for over two-hundred and fifty-nine decades! It has got to be amazing going to those ruins!”
“Bridget, are you sure saying something that hasn’t been said for ages in an ancient ruin is safe? I mean, what if, the writing isn’t meant to been said at all? What if, that when we said the words, something mystic was opened or something?” Gale said.
“But…I’ve always dreamed of going there one day.” Bridget said softly. “I can’t go there alone. You, Flossie, Convel, and Otsanda are my new family.”
“Gale, did you have to tell her that?” Flossie said with a small growl. Flossie turned back to Bridget. “Don’t worry, Bridge. We’ll go to those ruins one day.”
Bridget smiled and squealed with delight.
Otsanda wagged her tail and smiled, until something wet fell right into her left eye. She shut the left eye.
When she opened it a few seconds later, she looked up at the sky. It was gray and drab and little tears of rain were plummeting down.
After the rain passed and the wolves were fully rested, they stood up and left the oak tree and continued their journey.
They hadn’t even been walking for eight minutes when they stumbled upon a bush. And by the bush, was a wolf’s body.
The body was brown.
“Is this wolf…dead?” Flossie questioned.
Otsanda sniffed the wolf’s body and nudged it a bit.
“I think so. Well, let’s eat it before something else does.”
“Otsanda, we shouldn’t eat the wolf.”
The brown wolf opened his eyes a crack and listened to the wolf’s talking.
“Why not? It’s perfectly good and untouched. It’s perfect for eating.”
The brown wolf gasped and stood up. He growled and showed his fangs.
“Don’t come any closer, you savages!” The brown wolf snarled.
“The wolf is alive!” Otsanda gasped.
“Yes, I am alive, thank you. I was sleeping until I woke up to hear you freaks deciding whether to eat me or not!” The brown wolf shouted at them.
“Look, we’re sorry, okay? C’mon, everybody, let’s keep going.” Otsanda said.
The wolves began walking away. The brown wolf halted them. “Where are you wolves heading?”
“We are going to travel to the Alta Mountains to be amazed by what mysteries and jewels it contains.” Gale explained.
“You can’t go there!” The brown wolf blurted.
“Why not?” Bridget peeped.
“Because…my…because…”
“Spit it out, brownie.”
“Never mind. Look guys, may I come with you guys to the Alta Mountains? I’m sorry the way I acted when we met, okay?” The brown wolf said. “My name is Tikaani.”
“Since I’m the leader of this group I will decide. Tikaani, you may come. You may join our group.” Otsanda said, grinning at him. “Welcome.”
Tikaani smiled.
“Thank you, thank you, Otsanda! I won’t let any of you down! Never!”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up. We have a long way to go to the Alta Mountains.” Convel said blandly.
“Convel, be nice.” Otsanda whispered to him.
The wolves continued walking. Otsanda scooped up Bridget, and then burst into a run. Everyone ran after her.
The wolves ran endlessly. They ran even when their paw pads became very sore. They ran even until it felt like a bear’s claw was being driven into their paws.
The wolves finally stopped running when it was late in the afternoon.
“I’ve never run so much in my life.” Tikaani said, panting.
Otsanda set Bridget down.
“Get used to it, because we’ll be traveling to a whole lot of other places too. And of course, we’ll be running.” Otsanda chuckled.
Tikaani grinned.
“We aren’t too far from the Alta Mountains now. Probably only a day or two away!” Gale announced.
Everyone sighed with relief, except Tikaani, because he had already been to the Alta Mountains.
“Nice, Gale. So when do we stop for food?” Tikaani questioned, scratching his right ear.
“Only twice a day.” Gale replied.
“When do we rest?”
“At least three times. And we usually rest for twelve to twenty minutes. Speaking of rest, we should rest right now.”
Everyone nodded and lied down, except for Bridget, who began gnawing on a stick.
After rest time was up, the wolves rose up and began running again.
Everything was turning out fine until there was a yelp of pain.
“OUUUUCH!” Otsanda howled. She stopped running, set down Bridget and looked at her right front paw. It was bleeding. She scanned the ground to see an uprooted purple flower in front of her. “It’s a Violet Void flower. It must’ve stabbed me!” Otsanda growled at the flower.
“I warned you.” Gale said, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Oh, shut up, Gale! Pretty soon, you’ll have stepped on a flower too!” Otsanda giggled. She licked her bloody right front paw.
“My paw still stings. Can we look for a small pond or something? Maybe I can dip my paw in it and wash away the blood?” Otsanda added.
Flossie looked around. There were no ponds in sight.
“I don’t see any ponds. Maybe we can look for a puddle? After all, it just stopped raining.” Flossie suggested.
“Hey, there’s one!” Bridget squealed. She marched up to a large puddle of rainwater. Otsanda went up to the puddle and dunked her paw into it. It stung even more.
“Owwwwwwww, it stings even more.” Otsanda whined.
“Maybe that’s just the effect of the water on your paw. It’s probably supposed to.” Tikaani said, gazing into the puddle.
“I think Tikaani’s right.” Flossie began. “Leave your paw in the water for a few more minutes and then take it out so we can keep traveling.”
Otsanda nodded. Her paw stopped stinging and the water began soothing her paw instead.
“My paw is starting to feel better.” Otsanda said, wagging her tail.
“That’s good. Are you going to take it out now?” Flossie questioned.
“Wow. My paw feels so good already. It feels wonderful, why, it feels amazing!” Otsanda exclaimed. She wagged her tail even faster.
“Oh my gosh! This feels dynamically outstanding!” Otsanda took her paw out of the water. The blood was gone, and the tiny wound was erased completely from her paw. There wasn’t even a scar left behind!
Otsanda walked around a little. Her paw felt just fine!
She went back to the puddle. “I think this puddle is magical!” Otsanda exclaimed.
Flossie, Convel, Bridget, Gale, and Tikaani dunked one of their front paws into the water.
“I can’t believe it! My paw feels so renewed!” Gale said happily.
“I wanna’ see what’ll happen if I put my entire body in it!” Bridget blurted out. And before anyone could stop her, Bridget pounced right into the puddle. Water splashed onto the wolves.
“Ahhhh! Bridget, don’t soil my fur!” Flossie growled.
“This feels…” Bridget began, trembling. “…SO UNBELIEVABLE!” She wagged her tail faster and faster.
Then the unthinkable happened: Bridget fell beneath the surface of the pond.
Everyone screamed. “BRIDGET!”
The wolves stared into the pond. Otsanda put her paw back into the water, and swished the water around. There was no bottom.
“I knew there was something strange about this place.” Convel whispered to himself.
“We’re going to have to go in; especially if it means finding Bridget. Who wants to go first?” Flossie asked.
Nobody answered. “Fine. I’ll go in first.”
Without hesitation, Flossie pounced right into the pond and disappeared.
Everyone else, jumped in one by one, falling below the surface.
The wolves found themselves surrounded by jewels and crystals.
“Where are we?” Otsanda asked.
“We…we are in the Alta Mountains. That magical puddle warped us to the Alta Mountains!” Gale exclaimed with delight. “I can’t believe it. I’m at the Alta Mountains! The place my mom promised me I’d go to one day!” Gale wagged his tail and whimpered with happiness. Gale went over to a pile of jewels and rubies. He lied down in them.
“Gale, we know you’re having fun and that you’re very happy, but we have to search for Bridget.”
Gale froze. “Oh, right. I forgot all about her.” Gale halted his excitement and stood up.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Let me go! I’m only a pup!” A voice shrieked.
The shriek came from Bridget.
“Bridget’s in trouble!” Otsanda shouted.
“I can smell the ones who have Bridget; follow me!” Convel said. Convel led them to a room. And in the room, there was a large pile of crystals. And in the middle of the pile, a shiny, corn yellow, crystal was there. And it was about the size of an average stone.
But where were the ones who took Bridget?
“Show yourselves! Come out and fight, you brutes!” Otsanda barked. Her words echoed throughout the room. “Come out already! Fight me!”
“I wouldn’t have said that if I were you.” A menacing voice croaked.
A wolf and his gang came out of the shadows.
Tikaani gasped. “Kitchno.” He said under his breath with shock.
One of the wolves in Kitchno’s gang had Bridget clamped into their jaws.
“Bridget!” Convel shouted. “Give her back to us!”
Kitchno crowed with laughter. “Nah, I don’t feel like it. In fact, I don’t want to waste my energy going up to you wolves and giving her to you. Tash, drop the pup.”
The wolf released Bridget. Bridget hit the hard ground.
Her side was a little bloody.
“Now, come and get her.” Kitchno said.
“I’ll get her.” Otsanda whispered to her friends.
“No, Otsanda, I’ll get her.” Tikaani whispered back. He approached Bridget.
Kitchno blinked hard and gasped. “Tikaani…is that you? Is that you I see right now? Tell me, why did you go?”
Tikaani halted himself from walking any closer.
“I was tired of you. I was tired of partaking with you and your devilish activities.” Tikaani said with a low growl in his voice.
“Devilish, you say?” Kitchno hissed. “Who was the one who was desperately looking for a pack to join?”
“You call that a pack, Kitchno? A real wolf pack has members that care about each other. You just care about stealing and crimes. You would let your so-called pack members rot in hell.” Tikaani snarled.
Tikaani began approached Bridget and picked her up and walked back to the others. He gently set Bridget down on the ground so she could rest.
Kitchno growled loudly. “Shut up, Tikaani! You should hear yourself talking right now!”
Tikaani smirked.
And Kitchno lunged.
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