Invane: Backing Stoneager

“Ok so we are going to leave now." I said as I turned to face our client who looked shocked upon our breaking news of some sort. I stared at in silence, even tilting my head to one side as I looked at him. Awaiting for his response, he said nothing except for the silence that now loomed over us. I exhaled a breath before shaking my head, repeating the statement from before then he responded back, “Oh sure. You can leave with your pack. But please bring my pup with you guys." “Why a pup?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side while he gave no response. But turned around and heed towards the back of the tent, disappearing only temporarily while Horizoki stepped to my line and whispered onto my flickering ear “We should leave him. Like right now." “And forgot his pup?" I asked him with that same whisper. Horizoki said nothing else but a stare back towards him; his ears flattened against his skull.

He started whining. Harkell and Havlut rolled their eyes to the side, then Harkell shook his head before stepping up towards Horizoki and backhanded him. Earning him a yip while he turned towards Harkell with narrowed eyes who smiled back in response to him as silence fell between them. I just shook my head and suddenly turned around again when our client walked back onto my view; in his mouth was that pup who looked equally afraid and scared upon meeting new wolves however. I frowned, remembering what Harkell had said. But something torn inside me as I suddenly stepped forth. Allowing the client to dropped the pup upon the ground and me picking it up. “Alright lets just go." I said, muffled. Turning around towards the other wolves as half of them nodded, others fell to silence. The client behind me grinned and barked back at us, “Have fun!" “Hopefully we do…" I muttered while we ran out the front crack of the hut.

It was early morning. The sun was just about to rise from the horizon. Cold winds blew against our fur as the blue skies was mixed in with the orange and red colorings in the skies above. The huts scattered around the village; wolves and other canines were roaming about, preparing for their great morning start. While conversations remained looming upon the horizon, we returned to the grass softening underneath our feet which earned a exhaled from Harkell as he started pat the ground endlessly. Harvut, Horizoki and Huzizu shift their attention to the patting wolf. But he never minded then as he beamed his warmth smile towards me, I acknowledged him with a nod before taking the lead of the pack once again. “Alright!" I heard Huzizu exclaimed with a smile upon his snout, “Let just head home. We had been in here for some time." “How long had it been really?" Questioned Havlut, turning his head to Huzizu as Harkell answered for the wolf, “Two days at most. Huzizu thinks it was a month." “A month before our writer was able to write this story, that is!" “Guess he is glad." COmmented Harkell with Haziyo nodding at them. The conversation had ended there as we raced through the grassy plains. Heeded forth towards the gates where the harshest of winds blew against our snouts and furs. Finally reaching the gate, we jumped over it and made it to the other side. Except for Haziyo who seemed to be stuck between the bars.

“Help me!" “Haziyo, you idiot!" Exclaimed Havlut while he raced back to him. The rest of the wolves just laughed or chuckled; I never said anything else other than to stare at the predicament settling before my very eyes. Yet Havlut only took a short time before he freed Haziyo from his 'eternal' imprisonment. As he joins us, he nodded towards me. I said nothing but a smile before we continued racing back through the plains.

A peaceful settlement was over our heads as we had returned ourselves to our own home. Virkoal Forest. It was a place where most wild wolves and other canines and dragons live when they never wanted to become city or town folks where all the trouble had started because of two certain characters that I would never mention about here ever. But regardless of my rambling, I dropped the pup upon the grounds in front of me and laid down too. With my paws over my head and ears flatten upon my skull, I look towards the pup who turned towards me in silence. A short pause was between us however. His ears mirrored mine and he whimpered suddenly with his tail between his legs. As I hear Havlut piped up upon the silence which had startled me so suddenly that I got up onto my feet and turned towards him, he only chuckled and shook his head. Raising a paw towards the pup before informing him what he had needed, “A couple of meat, perhaps is fine. We just needed to kill some animals here." “Or just find some market to raid from." Suggested Harkell as Havlut turned to him, then silently nodded “Yeah or that." “We do not need to go through basic instincts for survival after all, Havlut and Harkell." I said towards the two wolves who turned towards me and said nothing, allowing me to add upon that.

“Besides," I added, “This is a peaceful forest. No killing, murdering or anything that spills blood is allowed here." “So says the wolf." “So says the rulebook." I growled back at Havlut who was muttering underneath his breath which was caught by me as I corrected him. Havlut flinched and said nothing in response, yet his tail was between his legs as he hung his head. I nodded back onto him, “Just find some sort of market nearby and steal from there. Surely they would not mind." “Do we nee-" “No." I said firmly towards Havlut as Harkell nudged the wolf in his flank, such said wolf turned towards Harkell as he nodded. The two said wolves turned their tails towards me and walked off, disappearing into the silence. For thus with that, I flopped upon the ground. Head still staring at the pup who was tilting his head to the side. Silently questioning what we were talking about. Yet I shook my head and laid a paw upon his back, forcing him to drop too.

The peaceful silent had cut short when Horizoki popped from the bushes behind us and spoke loudly, “So we need something to feed the pup right?" “Go away Horizoki." I whispered to him as he approached us with a glee splat upon his snout, “I know where to get some." “I said go away." “ 'Go ahead'? ALright!" He 'corrected' me as I growled at him. But he stepped forth closer towards us pair. Then turned around and fled into the bushes again with him calling out towards him. “Come on Hunter!" “Coming coming…" I said, repeating myself as I rose to my feet walking to following him as he brought me beyond the bushes. A short distance from where I had left the pup at was a tree. Well actually, there were many trees surrounding us. Each of them having their own set of branches and unique coloring of leaves that sprout from the edges of the branches however. We were at one particular tree where a yellow thing was sticking out from the edges of the leaves. Soft buzzing was heard, humming through the air as I heard it through my flickered ears, I instantly became afraid and feared for our safety that I whispered towards Horizoki, “We should not disturb the nest. They will bite us." “Who told you such stories?" Responded Horizoki, clearly obvious in what his actions were as I remained frowning and stepped back from him.

For at a safe distance, I watched Horizoki grabbed a thin long stick in his mouth. Rose it high and poke the nest several times. Then immediately afterwards came yellow gooey thing that dripped from the nest which Horizoki took afterwards as he licked at the gooey. I stared at him. Bewuthered; yet amazed at the same time. For as he poke at the nest again and slurping at the yellow goo, he turned around and smiled at me. Yellow was staining surrounding his snout for some strange reason, yet he never cared as he spoke towards me. “Alright, lets just head this back towards that pup and…" But as he spoke, I heard the nest vibrating vividly. My fears confirmed as my ears were flattened against my skull. I stepped back further from Horizoki as his head was tilted to the side. Thus at that moment, we started seeing bees submerging from the nest. Buzzing loudly; looking angry at us for stealing whatever it is that they were making. As I tapped Horizoki's shoulder and pointed on the opposing side of him, his eyes instantly went wide as fear washed him pure white. He fled bypassing me with the bees chasing him down. I followed them instantly, a bit surprise into seeing that the bees had not chased both of us. But yet I had to help a fellow packmate. Somehow.

We raced across the forest grounds. Westward and farther away from the pup who perhaps was looking a bit worried upon not seeing us return. Horizoki started screaming. Winds blowing against his face hard as he continued waving through the barks and trees that were in front of me, breathing hard that I could hear it too however as I was closer towards the chase that unfolded in front of me. Perhaps we had fled for minutes away from the pup, towards the edges of the forest grounds where an opening appeared before our faces. Horizoki was glad that his face started brightening up, despite the yellow stain coloring stretching towards his eyes, attempting to cover his entire face. I raced after them as they resubmerged upon the fields of grass underneath them. Instantly, Horizoki race towards a nearby cavern in an attempt to lose the bees that were chasing him down as I slowed down halfway. Panting heavily as I stared upon the cavern's entrance.

Another short peace had still upon me and I sat upon the grounds underneath and attempted to calm myself down and control my breathing at best. Knowing that the other four wolves were returning to the pup, I called out towards Horizoki “Horizoki? It is safe to come  out now however." “Is it now?" Exclaimed the wolf though his voice was echoing through the cavern's inner walls as I responded back towards him. “Yeah. The bees are gone. Silence falls. Nothing will-" But I had spoken way too soon. A roar vibrated out from the caverns which startled both me and Horizoki. We flinched and I called out to Horizoki again, “"What is going o-" “There is a bear here! Run!" He exclaimed immediately and cut me off. He reappeared through the cavern's entrance, screaming yelling and doing all kinds of things that I should not mention here at all as he reappeared back upon the plains. Rejoining me at my line for an instant before fleeing back towards the forest grounds behind me. Seconds later after I turned and followed him down into the forest grounds, my ear caught onto another roar. I never turned around however, knowing full well that a bear was behind us.

Luckily, it never chased us down into the forest grounds. Leaving itself there in front of its own home. Stand up, staring in the direction of where that wolf was heading down into before dropped down and reentered its home again.

I growled at Horizoki as we had regrouped with the rest of the wolves. Harkell and Havlut were busy having dinner with the pup who had ate the most of it however, much to the two's surprise. As they continued feeding him, I spoke to Horizoki concluding the events that were string together for him “I hope you are happy now?" “No. I am never happy." He started, glancing at me before shaking his head. Yet his facial expression betrayed him as he started beaming in happiness and a soft smile appeared upon his face. Though with the silence looming above us again, I exhaled a breath and shook my head. Closing and opening my eyes as I returned my sights towards the other four wolves. Thus prompted Haziyo to speak out of the blue. “This had been fun and all…" Trailed Haziyo as he turned his attention towards the rest of us, “But should we return this pup back to its owners?" “Wolves or the villagers?" I questioned him as he faced him in turn, “Villagers."

I rose to my feet, nodding as I started faintly smiling. While the others wolves shift their attention towards me, wondering what I was doing, I turned my back to them in response and rose one paw into the air before speaking to them, “Then lets just go." “Westward was it?" Questioned Havlut with a tilt of his head, turning towards Harkell who nodded and smiled “West." “Lets go." I ordered rushing through the fields of the forest. We retraced our steps and in a few minutes we had returned ourselves towards the villages. Yet to our surprise, we saw plenty of them that stretched far into the horizon where it meets with the sun. I was surprise that I whimpered with a tail stuck between my legs. The other wolves stared, expressing nothing as Havlut exhaled a sigh before nodding his head towards me, whispering “Lets get this over with already." “Then where is that village that we had entered through?" I asked him, he remained silent.

Rolling my eyes, I led the team down the path towards one of the nearby villages closest to the forest grounds. We entered through the gates, and glanced inside. Huts and tents were set up here. Colorful flags hanged upon their tips. Upon the grounds laid those villagers; gathered about upon one another. Chats, conversations and laughter hang the air. All seem peaceful at least for a second. But that all came crashing down when we, the wolves, had arrived upon their village. For like a chain reaction, one of the villagers turned to us and raised to its feet and started pointing at us. He exclaimed with mixture of fear and anger that the others turned to where he was pointing at. At this point, a thought crossed my mind reminding me of the previous times we had encountered these villages and their outcome and fate at our paws which had prompted me to muttered, “oh."

Responding to their outcry, we fled from that village. It was a growing mob chasing us down. Fire from the torches burned brightly underneath the sudden sunset skies. Other sharp weapons were held high above their heads. Yet only the screaming yelling and among other noises that these villagers can muster echoed the surrounding air. They chased us down through the plains and entered back towards the forest grounds. We decided to split up. Each of us taking a road that would weave us through the barks and trees that surrounded us, with hope that would end us up upon Vastertown, upper North apparently.

I continued running and committing the actions that I had foretell from the previous paragraph. Pants were upon my mouth. Fear loomed over my head as my eyes narrowed, glancing up ahead. The sun slowly sank into the horizon, withdrawing more light towards itself as the darkness now submerged into the grounds. For in an instant alone, everything had became dark which gave us the advantage over our pursuiters however. I slowed down and breathed calmly through my nose. Head turned over my shoulder and glance at the behind. Emptiness was the result of things which prompted me to smile as I resumed my run through the forest grounds. For I never knew how long did I ran. It never really mattered anyway as I popped out from the other entrance of the forest grounds and right in front of Vastertown. The other wolves were there in front of me too. Smiling as they turned towards me, I waved at them back. Rejoining them again before we entered through the town's entrance.

It had been long before we had entered through Vastertown however. I could not even remember the last time that we had entered through here. A smile reappeared upon my snout as I turned towards the dragons walking about. Conversations and other talks and noises loomed above them, clattering about The footsteps from these dragons were drowned by the other things. Horizoki and Haziyo stepped forth from my line, turned around to face me before having a look of concern upon their faces. I nodded, knowing what they were thinking and turned back towards Harkell and Havlut with silence, nudging my head forward as they looked at me with surprise upon their faces. Yet they had complied and acknowledge it that they stepped forth. Creating a line between the four of them. They stepped forth straight towards the end of the road a few steps ahead of us before branching out. Havlut, Harkell ran towards the east and into the alleyway where they had disappeared. Haziyo and Horiozki ran the opposing way. Down the streets they go where dragons were startled to see the wolves here. But they never did anything in response towards them.

When all four disappeared, I turned around glancing back through the entrance of Vaster. Towards Virkoal Forest, our home. I saw flames burning its trees and branches. Yet the noises were frustrating which had caused me to smirk. I chuckle with silence before shaking my head, muttering something before turning tail. Running to follow Havlut and Harkell down into the alleyway that they had entered through. Returning to the pure darkness that loomed surrounding me. For as such, I fled the alleyway and towards the end where I found a silver door with a light hanging above it. The door was opened, Havlut turned towards me. A smile mirrored us both before he stretched the door out wide and allowed me in. I welcomed myself in.

The place that Havlut and Harkell had taken was a bit too boring for me. But then again, they did have a taste for early eighteenth centuries artifacts however. As Havlut raced me through the room and upon the other side was where Harkell reappeared himself before us and startled me again. He flinched too upon noticing me, but we never exchange any words between ourselves as Harkell walked away and left us be towards ourselves as Havlut smiled faintly, leading me towards the other half of the halls that we were suppose to entered through before being stopped by him. As we continued through the halls, I pondered about our pursuiters and the other two wolves. For in ponderance where they had went, Havlut had noticed me and stopped immediately after which forced me to turn towards him after a few steps.

“I am sure that they are fine." He says, “I hope so." I answered him and he smiled again before questioning me, “Where are we going anyway? It is not like we can keep hiding in Vaster until those pursuiters gave up trying to find us." “I am sure they would give up rather early." I say with a trail as I glance my eyes towards the side. Turning my attention towards the wall. Havlut smiled and chuckled; but before he could shake his head. We heard Harkell pip up from behind him, “Seems like the pursuiters are gone." “They left?" “They thought we are dead." He concluded. “See?" Havlut brighten, “But where are we going to live now?" “Vaster." I say as their heads were turned to me in surprise, “What?" “You heard me." I smirked at them. But before anyone else to say anything, I spoke again through the short silence that fell, “But first. We need to recapture Horizoki and Haziyo. The two wolves headed eastward and are probably lost in the town." “Nah, knowing those two…" Trailed Havlut with a confident grin as his tail started wagging, “I am certain we are going to-" A loud doorknob erupted our conversation which prompted Harkell  to head towards the door and Havlut immediately pipped up, “Speak of the wolf." “Guess they are here." I laughed as we started welcoming the two said wolves.