The thick white fur of this beast waved easily in the air as it rushed past from the full on charge this wolf was providing.  A race against time, a charge fueled with anger, sorrow, confusion.  Everybody that had been known was left back there, but this was no time to think, no time to talk with others, no time to act on anything but raw instinct.  The heavy panting from the hard run working its toll, but the movement never slowed, never suffered, the bare determination of this creature keeping the pace at full speed.  Finally, the destination was reached, the view of the area opening up and a wave of sadness finally catching up and clinging to the very heart.  The wolf dropped easily to the ground allowing everything to finally catch up at once.  Everything had changed so suddenly, everyone always seemed so happy before, now everything was business, but why wouldn’t things change?  Everyone finally had a chance to go home.  But to her, this was the only home she ever knew.

The land from where she was opened up to a river that marked the end of the wolf territory.  At times they’d had to turn people around wanting to cut through their area, but almost nobody was willing to take on the wolf pack that roamed in these areas, and even fewer had ever actually seen what the entire pack actually looked like.  These wolfs never exited their territory, never marched for resources, or game, they kept to themselves and only presented their existence when they needed to remind people that they were there.  With her knees to her chest, it would seem that this area would soon be unguarded, people passing through as they pleased where the wolf pack, something that had been in these woods from before the Village of Missor existed, would finally be moving on, heading towards a new land that was better suited for their newly discovered needs.

This female white wolf found herself not wanting to leave.  She was born in these woods, this forest.  It was the only home that she ever knew.  She had been educated in where they were from, how they were exiled, and what it took just to get where they were today with their pack.  The idea of not being able to see these trees, this ground, this river, it wasn’t something that she wanted to leave behind.  Then again, it wasn’t really her choice.  She had to go with her pack, following the decisions made by the alpha.  He’d earned his place as their leader and it was important to respect that.  Wolven tactics weren’t designed to be individual; it was well known that wolfs worked best in a group.  She’d need to face the alpha after running off like that, he was likely already tracking her, but why wouldn’t he?  He’s not going to let his daughter get left behind.

A rustling sound came from the path she’d traveled down.  He had gotten here faster than she thought, but even in these safe lands she didn’t want to take the chance that it could be some kind of enemy.  Her hands releasing her knees as she leaned back from her sitting position, a lift of her legs and a roll would take this female up the length of the tree, climbing it upside down in a hurried motion until she was able to locate a branch that she flipped over onto.  Pitch eyes watching the area below, studying what was coming, and sighing when she realized her first thought on it was correct.  Down below her was the white male who stopped and turned to look directly up at her, having no doubt at all exactly where she would be.  The expression on his face shown of disappointment, and where his arms crossed over his chest it was obvious that he wasn’t pleased with her actions in front of everyone else.

Her head dropped, hanging low from the silent scolding and turned her eyes towards the left so not to look at him. Her soft breathing letting out a gentile sigh of defeat before she dropped down from her perch.  She was past breeding age, and well on her way into adulthood for their pack.  If she wanted to stand tall alongside them then it was important for her to start acting like an adult and not some whining pup.  She had her feelings about leaving, about wanting to stay close to the area that she was born and raised in, but there was a reason that this man was the leader of the pack.  Everyone else trusted his leadership, his direction, and she would need to as well.

Dropping down from the tree she would turn around so that she stood at his side, her head moving to nuzzle gently into his shoulder.  Unhappy, but willing to do what was best for her and the pack this female felt his hand wrap around her shoulder to give her a gentle pat that formed into a light hug.  When she finally pulled herself away from him the two made the long trek back.  She knew this path better than anyone; it was the path that connected her from that favored location she’d just been visiting to the pack clearing.  She’d walked it so many times that this wolf didn’t even know the count now.  She knew where it rose, where it dropped, where the ground was tight and where it was lose.  She’d memorized this path over all others and even took note of the families of animals that lived near it.

The path to travel back into the clearing was long, and quiet, even by this pack’s standards.  Neither the wolf nor the female speaking at all as she silently said her goodbyes to her favored location with just a glance over her shoulder.  The trees, the rocks, the bushes, everything so familiar, and here she would never be able to see them again once they left.  Traveling outside the pack was as good as being exiled, it was dangerous out there and without the safety of the group there was no true way for any independent member of their group to survive long against all of the odds.  Predators, environment, competition, these were all things that a person has to overcome to survive.  Where wolfs are pack creatures they can only truly thrive as a group.  The only one that they’d ever sent out alone, the only scout that they’d ever had to venture across the lands would be returning soon.  He had gone to test his training, and providing them with the start of a gateway that would lead to their return back to their homelands.  That wolf was going to be their saving grace, if he could return victorious.

The path finally opened wide into the clearing that separated the forest like a giant hole in the landscape.  The tall grass that grew inside made for excellent comfort until the winter came to kill it, then it made for excellent fire starter in bundles.  A pack of pitch colored eyes turned towards the two when they arrived back in the clearing again.  The number of people here was surprisingly high considering most of them were never in the clearing at the same time at all.  The hunters were usually out performing their duties, the guardians were outside of the clearing watching the inner circle to make sure that nothing escaped the hunters, the elders could always be found in the clearing speaking ideas and plans for the pack over with her father to consider.  The nurse maids took care of the young and the children ran In and out as they saw fit, exploring and adventuring all their own.  There used to even be a pit for sparring and training in combat, but that had been left empty for weeks now.  She had always enjoyed watching people fight, testing their tactics, and training to become stronger.  As a kid she often fantasized about some day entering the pit and testing her own skills, but there she was fantasizing about it again.  A light blush showing on her cheeks when she reminded herself to act more mature.

Everyone's eyes watched the pack leader, waiting to see what the latest order would be now that the alpha had gone to fetch his child from running off into the woods.  All of them watching, waiting, ready to see exactly what they would be doing.  They had all heard about their champion’s victory, the news spreading fast and had been brought to them by their runners that sometimes enter the Village for the sake of trading, services, and gathering information about the surrounding areas.  The news had been shared all throughout this forest, which started this talk of heading home.  With his head turning towards the forest the alpha knew that he needed to wait for their final pack member to return to them, arrive as a champion to begin his new training in order to finally accomplish his ultimate goal.

It took time to return from the further areas outside the woods, sometimes people can get delayed, but even this alpha was starting to get worried that something could have happened to him; he could have been captured, lied to, or worse forgotten about them entirely.  This wolf kept his face stern, not showing even the slightest sign of this thought, or they all would pick it up immediate.  He needed to never show that he had doubts, that things could go wrong, people, especially these people, could easily turn on someone they didn’t believe to be as strong as they initially thought.  No matter how long he felt it took to travel, it shouldn’t have been this long to get back.

The eyes of the alpha would turn back to the group, watching them all in their eagerness to get started on this trek.  They’d even pulled the hunters from the edges of the territory for the sake of gathering this entire pack.  The only thing that they needed at this point was for one of them to finally arrive.  Usually the people of this pack didn’t mind the waiting, but in this case they all lowered their heads to display the layer of disappointment that became immediately evident about each and every one of them.  They knew that he wasn’t back yet, and nobody was being allowed to go out in order to look for him.  It would be a travesty if someone were to head out to seek this man and then he arrived at another direction to the clearing.  Prolonging the group’s advancement In this way would simply be seen as unacceptable.

The others hadn’t noticed, but this female that had just returned did.  Always attentive, always ready, it was a core belief to her position that she kept close.  Perhaps it was because she wasn’t here waiting for the champion to return, but instead focusing her attention on the forest that she would have to leave behind when he did.  This canine’s focus had always been directed towards the forest, in an odd way she felt more connected to it than her pack sometimes.  Just as they all spoke to each other using the most subtle of gestures, the wood spoke to her as well, giving her clues about things to come, about locations, and people.  It even spoke to her now.  Her ears perked quickly, her tail stiffening.  There was something wrong.

What she had noticed instantly was that the sounds of the birds that commonly nested around this clearing had completely stopped.  She had learned long ago that this was a way for the woods to tell someone that danger was coming, the only question was to figure out from where.  Those eyes of hers narrowed when she looked around slowly, taking in the entire border of the clearing to see if she could spot anything at all.  Even with her heightened senses she could see nothing out of place in the forest itself.  Trained specifically to notice if there was something out there that she would need to intercept and she saw nothing, but still she knew there was something out there, something waiting in the darkness and underbrush.  Those perked ears quickly caught the sound of a rustling coming about from across the clearing.  Everyone turned their eyes, many smiling instantly with their anticipation that it could only be one person that would be seeking out this location.  A few even heading towards the sound just to be among the first to welcome him back.

A feeling hit her quickly, that very feeling that someone was close by, and yet you hadn’t noticed them.  In a few blinks this female slowly turned herself around, looking to see what it could be, maybe an animal, some kind of squirrel, or a bunny.  If only that had been the case in this situation things might be different.  A fast leap would land this creature directly at the edge of the clearing, right where this wolf was turning to look.  Her eyes widen as she looked over the green scaled creature that had presented itself.  It’s snout long, flat and filled with ravenous teeth that became instantly displayed through a snarl.  The turning motion of this young canine only half done before she leaned away in order to run away from him.  Her footing lost thanks to the twist where her shoulder hit the ground before pushing herself back up to her feet that were already moving in their running motion.

This wasn’t the only crocodile that had presented itself to this group.  Others emerged one after another to show these wolves that they were completely surrounded.  Those of this pack that could fight quickly took up their defense, expecting to have their strength and skills to their advantage.  The largely muscular reptiles easily tore through the rings, claws and teeth moving in what could only be described as a blind fury while the crocs moved in fatal accuracy.  It quickly became obvious that they couldn’t fight these creatures head on, and expected to use their own speed to overcome their invaders.  This strategy failed just as quickly as the last where they were cut down in a matter of seconds.  She noticed quickly, dodging between the different wolfs and gators, that these creatures weren’t attacking just anyone that they saw, they were each going after specific targets, they were taking on their hunters and fighters.

This female wolf feeling herself impacted hard from the side, rolling to her back with the heavy weight of something on top of her.  Her hands came back to try for some small close ranged strikes, but those pitch eyes of her lifted to the sight of her father that quickly placed his hands over the face of the younger female in order to help block others from noticing her under the leaders figure.  The call of a loud roar, the harsh yelp of pain would leave this male shaking hard over his daughter’s body.  Eye’s wide while he looked at her, nuzzling his head against the ground just to tell the younger wolf to stay down.  That crimson torrent flowing from the white wolf’s back soon slowing his shakes to a complete stop, where the widened gaze softened and grip went limp.  Still this young canine obeyed, staying down as she was told.

With her father’s face having been placed directly in her own, she couldn’t see anything that was going on, not wanting to turn her head in order to look in case someone might notice her.  Her ears picked up far more than enough, the yips, the calls, the screams filling the clearing.  The sounds of elders, adults, teens, and even the children were nothing under the force of these rampaging reptiles.  Tears of anger, of fear, ran from her eyes to dampen the ground below her, as the dirt turned to mud she could feel the wet chunks sticking to her pure white fur.  Everything she had, everything she was, went into staying quiet, keeping her breathing at the most minimal.  Even her shaking body had to be calmed for the sake of hiding her location.  She was told to stay down, it was the last request by her alpha and she wasn’t going to break it now.

The sounds of pain, of torture, of chaos faded slowly, children stopped crying instantly one by one, the groans of damage taken by the adults drifting off as if falling asleep, the very movements of those struggling to hold onto that last thread were finally released and just as it had been before the attack, the clearing fell into silence.  All that was left were the sounds of the heavy footsteps as they grew further and further away, vanishing into the woods.  Still this young adult remained where she was, hiding, keeping herself covered by the one that had died to protect her.  She was scared, horrified that if she moved even an inch that she’d find the one and only gator that had decided to stay behind.  Even if she got up there was no reason to, if the sounds she’d gathered were any indication then there were no others left to get up for.  Maybe it was better if she just remained here, allowing time itself to rejoin her to those just taken away from her.

“No..”  The word rang through this clearing like a chime sounding off to shatter the silence around her.  Those eyes opened quickly where she had no idea how long she’d been laying here, but she did know that throughout the entire attack, none of the crocs had spoken any word at all, even to each other.

Slowly she’d move herself, her hand taking hold of the hands that were over her face and lifting them with her just to peek over her father’s head to see who had spoken.  The idea of this completely forgotten when she saw the layers of white that now covered the clearing like a newly fallen snow.  The sight of this chilling the wolf to her very core even as she sat up entirely without realizing and looked around.  Everyone she knew, everyone that had helped to raise her, helped to train her, all of her family rested at the ground of this clearing.  Her pitch eyes looking out over each one before finally landing on one other person kneeling down with his head lowered.  Her eyes widened with the realization that her father was right, and that their champion had returned to them.  He had come back to the pack, but it was too late.  She was the only one left to return to now.

Another white creature was making its way towards her, causing her to jump suddenly when she noticed the squirrel approaching.  A fast jump to her feet, she needed to decide if she was going to run or fight, but the decision was made for her when this squirrel dropped to her knees in the grass, her arms held out to the female.  This wolf was a bit confused at first, but seeing the tears in the eyes of the creature that never even knew this pack compelled her to make her steps closer to her.  The slow stumbling steps making sure to take care of her pack.  Every single motion that this female wolf made seemed to be harder to make, every sight she focused on seemed to get harder for her to see until finally she simply collapsed into a flood of tears and sobs while the white arms of the squirrel pulled her into her chest to comfort her.

Others arms wrapped around her as well, but she didn’t care at this point.  The others here could have torn her heart out and it would have done nothing more than ended her sorrow.  How long would this depression last?  This pain?  She didn’t know, but as long as it was there she wouldn’t hide it.  Her eyes finally moved toward the large white wolf that hadn’t moved from the time she got up.  She knew him, he was the one that she always watched in the pit, fighting everyone else.  The large almost feral creature that she’d studied for so long.

Why wasn’t he here earlier?  If he’d come straight back they would have been gone when the gators showed up… no… no…. that’s not right.  They knew exactly where to attack and who.  These crocs were prepared far beyond what they should have been.  Their fighting skills, they were trained to take on this pack.  Even if they hadn’t been attacked in this clearing there was no telling if the reptiles would have tracked them down, or not.  Even the level of carnage that was left in this pack wasn’t common to this world.  These beasts that attacked, they were here to accomplish exactly what they did.  She wouldn’t blame this wolf in front of her.  If she was the last of her pack, then it was her responsibility to make sure that this large canine knew he still had family.

The red that covered her back, matched only by the brown of the mud that had been caked in, blending chunks of mud into the fluids.  She pulled herself away from the squirrel, making her way towards her large pack mate, watching him, with her ears pulled back, viewing over his enormously built body.  She said nothing, but moved her hand to touch his shoulder.  She noticed right then just what kind of master of abilities he was.  The feeling of the touch alone showed her that the surface under his thick white fur was hard, not like solid muscle hard, but like suit of armor hard.  This only distracted her for a second to allow this large canine to lift his head and look over her.  His strong arms moving around her body to pull her in, holding her like a child would a teddy bear, her hands pushing against him enough to create a little bit of space, wanting to avoid being crushed. 

Finally, as he loosened his hold, she’d move her arms around his neck, letting him hold her while she hugged him back.  Her face coming up right beside his to lightly nuzzle his cheek, feeling his fur brush across hers, even if that meant to smear of what was on her to him.  Even without a pack, these two had each other and that support alone was enough for her at this time.  With the exchange of emotion she finally pulled her nuzzling muzzle away from him in order to look at his face, eyes shifted downward and towards the ground, and then back up with her sad expression.  The message very clear to him that she simply didn’t like this forest anymore and she would like to leave.