Like most nights, this was a cool one. A breeze rustled the leaves of the trees in the surrounding forest, but through the trees one could hear the distant sound of running water. Besides that, no other sound could be heard. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and capturing all the familiar scents that I had known all through my childhood until now. The strong scent of pine mingled with other forest smells brought back memories of running the trails in this particular region of the mountains, growing faster and stronger as each year passed.

I kept my eyes closed, reflecting on these memories and how I had grown up in this place. By no means was I the largest of our clan, standing at only 5’ 9” tall, but I was definitely counted among the strongest and fastest. The fur covering my muscled frame was ruffled a bit by a stronger breeze. I smiled, feeling energized by the breeze. I was always grateful to my parents for the physique I had inherited from them. I was even more proud of the fact that due to being a mixed breed, I was one of the more respected fighters in our clan.

My parents had met 26 years previous to now. My Dad is a wolf that comes from a clan of very traditional beliefs. His fur is a sleek black that creates a sort of “mask” on his face. The black runs all the way down his back to his tail and down his legs and arms. His muzzle is a dark grey that goes down his throat to his chest and stomach. The insides of his ears and the underside of his tail, as well as his hand and feet paws all have the similar color grey in them. Over the years, though, he has begun to show more grey in his head fur. Even so he was still the most respected warrior teacher of all the surrounding clans, and could prove he was still the best if anyone dared challenge him.

No one ever knew enough about my mother to tell me much about her. She died shortly after giving birth to me. My father always told me not to blame myself and that her last wishes were that I would grow up and do the best I could to prove myself to the clan. He said she was proud to go if it meant bringing me into the world. I always felt a strange longing and emptiness when I thought of her, but did as much as I could to grant her dying wish. Whenever my father would talk about her he would tell me stories of how he saved her from the enemy Dark Moon clan, and how she captivated him with her beautiful eyes, which I had inherited. My eyes were a deep jade color, with a light yellowish-brown sun around each pupil. It always put a longing smile on my dad’s face when he would look into my eyes and remember her. He was able to convince the elders and chief of the clan that he could teach her to be one of the clan, and being the strongest warrior and recognized for his wisdom, was given consent to marry her.

I sighed after being lost in thought and slowly opened my eyes to the moonlit forest. My sharp senses seemed to tingle, ready for me to begin what had almost become a nightly ritual for me. The pale blue moon made the trail before me glow, and I looked ahead seeing it twist and disappear into the woods. I gave a half smile, and began to stretch my limbs. ‘Dad showed me this trail forever ago, and here it is, my favorite place to go,’ I thought to myself. I started to stretch, knowing well it would be a better run if I did.

I started to stand after reaching forward to touch the ground, when I was pushed from behind by a strong hand. I rolled forward, and spun around as I got to my feat. ‘Who the hell?’ I thought, ready for a fight. I recognized who the tall dark figure standing before me was, bearing his sharp white teeth in a humorous smile.

“Dad!” I almost yelled. I had to keep from tackling him to the ground. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and could feel that some adrenaline had been released into my veins.

“Ha Ha! Thought you would’ve heard me coming! You need to be more attentive,” he said grinning in his baritone voice. He always had something to lecture me about…

“Yeah, I was just thinking, and no one ever comes here besides me anyways,” I said in protest. I turned away from him and continued stretching.

“Did you forget who showed you this place to begin with? This was my favorite place to run long before you were born. This is the exact thing I was doing when I met your mother…” he trailed of, looking at me with his brown eyes.

“That’s true, I guess I should have known it was you. What are you doing out here?” I asked as I scanned over his well-muscled body. He stood over me about a foot taller, and I could see his well chiseled muscles under his fur. Like me, he was wearing the traditional loincloth that our tribe wore for everything that was training related. It was also what we wore to sleep.

“Can’t a father take a night-time run with his son? Especially down memory lane?” he asked sarcastically with a wink.

Giving it a second’s thought I said, “Heh, why not? I’d love to see if you can still keep up with me,”  I turned to face him, smiling my own sharp-toothed grin back at him.

“Oh- ho! Was that a challenge then?” he asked, a wild look appearing in his eyes.  I could tell he was excited to be issued a challenge when his tail started to brush from side to side in quick strokes.

“You bet it was,” my own tail wagging and nerves jumping at the thought of a race with my father. I had never beaten him in a race, but I hadn’t run with him for years. I had decided to train by myself a few years back, and was curious to know how I stood up to him now.

With an even bigger grin and determination on his face, he stepped forward beside me facing down the trail, and I turned around to face the same direction. The trail was only wide enough for one runner at a time, so whoever took the lead had the advantage that the other would have to run off the trail and dodge trees in order to take the lead, which is exactly what made the competition so exciting.

            In the cool evening, I could feel the heat emanating from my father on my left side as we had to stand so close. This only added to the intense feel of our friendly game. We both got into a starting position to run. There was no one to say “go”, or any signal that would start us off. Just an unarranged agreement that we would start together at the same time, when neither could hold the pent up energy that was now surging through me, along with the leftover adrenaline.

            As if lightning struck behind us, we jumped and shot off down the trail, both of us had one foot on and one foot off the trail, pushing hard to gain a lead on the other. The trail turned and I came to a Tree on my side of the trail. Laughing, my father shot out his right paw, pushing me out past the far side of the tree and taking the lead.

“Ah! So that’s how it is going to be is it?! Old man can’t win without playing dirty?” I huffed as I jumped back onto the trail behind him. He laughed loudly and sped up, with me running right on his heels. We were coming to a small brook where the trail dipped and took a turn, and I got ready to get revenge and take the lead. When we got to the brook, I nimbly jumped off the left side of the trail and ran to a log that shortcut over the water and back to the trail. My father had to slow a bit to keep from slipping on the wet rocks, giving me the perfect chance to overcome him and cut him off.

“Ha Ha! I guess I underestimated how often you come here to run!” he yelled at my back. I turned my head and smiled at him over my shoulder. For a moment I caught the look of my father beaming pride before the competitive look returned to his face. I laughed and picked up the pace, my father right on my heels. This went on for the rest of the run, one overtaking the other and vice versa, all the way back to the village. I loved the time I was spending with my father. He had made us a strong family, and I never once thought he treated me badly or unfairly.

            The older black and grey wolf ran into the center of the village where a fire was still burning from some local event, closely followed by myself, huffing with my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth. Bending over with his hands on his knees and his own tongue lolling out of his mouth my dad wheezed, “I can still beat you in a race, and don’t you forget it!”

I fell onto my knees, then onto my back, just trying to catch my breath. I had no sarcastic remark to throw back at him. I couldn’t even talk right now as my lungs burned, trying to take in as much oxygen as they could. I just lay there looking up at the starry sky as the firelight illuminated the both of us. As I lay there, I could see my father looking over me, like he was admiring me, ready to boast his pride in his son. Almost out of curiosity I lifted my head, putting my chin on my chest, to see what he was seeing exactly.

            I looked over my heaving chest and stomach. I could see outlines in my fur of the muscles that lay underneath. I had worked and trained very hard to keep myself fit, but this was one of those rare moments that I looked at myself and thought, ‘Damn’. Like Most huskies, my stomach and chest were covered in white fur that ran up to my throat and muzzle. My palms and underarms were also white, along with the undersides of my legs and tail, down to my ankles. My back and most of my head and tail were covered in a dark black fur, similar to that of my father, which ran up the back of my neck up to my head and ears. It ran down to my thighs and knees. There were grey outlines dividing most of the black and white around my chest and stomach, and the same grey ran down my tail in the same fashion. My feet were grey on the top, as were my hands, with black cuffs around the ankles and wrists.

“I don’t think I say this as much as I should, son” my father said after he had caught his breath. “I am so proud of you and everything you have done.” He extended his paw to me in a gesture to help me from the ground. I gladly accepted and was pulled to my feet and into a warm embrace by my father.

“Thanks dad. I wish mom could have been here to say that too.”

“I think she knows, son. And she loves you every bit as much as I do.” I thought for a moment what he meant by that, but just let my mind pass it over.

“I love you too dad” I said into his chest fur while we embraced for a second longer.

“Well it’s late, and we had better get to bed so you can have enough energy for the trial of the elders tomorrow.” My father stated after ending the embrace and started walking towards home.

“Oh yeah!!” I had forgotten in the moment that tomorrow I would be turning 25, and would be going through a trial that would accept me as a warrior of the clan, able to train other warriors.