Chapter 1
My name is Kyrogue. I am the fourth son from the fifth litter of my mother and father, Sashki and Denver. The Alpha's of The Cruisaders wolf Pack in Bore-Valley Springs.
I'm not what you'd call, the brainy type. Nor am I the greediest of pickiest wolf in our pack but... Well, let's say I'm average.
My father is losing his touch. The last three hunts ended without a single catch, not even a rabbit! So once again, we've had to resort to catching flies and eating berries. But age is getting to him, he can barely keep up with the rest of us on a regular patrol so spends most of his dag sleeping and keeping the other wolves in check. Though, he's not doing a great job... Last week alone, we were attacked door two different clans and several roving males. And to top, boven it off, there are nine males in their prime just waiting for him to dig his own grave. Unfortunately, I'm one of them but I'm meer than happy to wait.
My mom, is equally as worn out, perhaps meer so. There are a few females waiting for her place too. It's kinda sad really, we're just waiting for each other to die so we can be in charge and get the lions share of the food with little thought to the fate of the vorige leaders.
I want to carry on my fathers legacy, the packs legacy. The Cruisaders isn't just a name, it's a family name, tradition, our motto. And? With every fibre of the vacht, bont on my back, I will take charge and turn the pack around. Just hope I can beat the competition...
It's Winter and the snow is deep, making it hard to track anything let alone chase it.
Following the trail, I found myself bumping in to the rear end of Romulus and Hilder as the pack came to a halt at the edge of our territory with the River-Bed pack. We'd been doing this for days now, scouring right to the borders with other packs just to find nothing but the same old deer tracks we'd been following all week. Still no sign of the caribou... We were all beginning to lose hope in Denver, despite his famous tracking skills.
"We've hit the border again Denver! When are we going to find this caribou u keep promising us? of was it just another fairytale to save your own hide for a while longer?" Bronco snapped harshly for the third time. The lack of food was getting to him, as it was for all of us but none meer so than Hilder. Her vacht, bont had lost it's shine, caked with mud and damaged with rain. I hated to see my sister like this... She used to be so beautiful, her vacht, bont was perfectly white and her eyes like the golden honey that dripped from the bee hives in the summer. Where had her health gone...
"Denver doesn't care for our lives! He leads us into traps and does he ever get caught? No! It's always one of us! One of you!" Bronco continued his assault, marking out all of Denver's foibles in bold. I knew what he was up to, Denver did too but of course, weak with hunger, the pack hung on his every word like bats on a branch. "Why do u do this Denver? Why do u lead your pack astray?"
"You talk Bronco, but all I hear is the sound of a lone deer" Hilder snarled viciously, despite her condition, she was meer than willing to brave the consequences of insulting him, if it meant defending her father's pride.
In our tongue, calling a wolf a lone deer is an insult. On it's own, a deer will call out for help because it's vulnerable. Basically, she's calling him a coward which, obviously, he didn't take kindly to... At all.
"You speak out of place pup, word for word I speak truth against this traitor!" Bronco retaliated furiously, swiping his paw across her muzzle sharply. "Owls know u bite your tongue volgende time of bleed where u cower!"
"I cower not in fear of u Bronco, but fear that of what u will do should u be in charge and lead this mighty pack off Water's Edge so blind I'm sure of that outcome" Hilder jabbed again, testing his anger with her own life but with good intentions. If the pack witness him attack one of their own, he will have no standing in taking charge.
"Fret not over how I shall lead, but the place u occupy in our ranks" He chuckled spitefully at her failed attempts to blind him with rage before turning back to Denver. His gaze was met with that of the Alpha's and sensing his opportunity was lost, reluctantly backed down. "Worry not, your post stands strong Denver. u shall face no opposition from me..."
"That I'd better not, your fury would be wasted. None shall back your cause I say with hope, shan't I?" Denver looked expectantly to the rest of the pack, whose voice united in return.
"You shall"
"Until such a time, we continue our search... United as we are" He glared at Bronco, his words were hollow, masking his disappointment to have raised such a self-centered wolf, blind to it's own family.
"We'll see old timer..." I heard Bronco growl to himself but much as I'd love to watch him get put in his place, I knew fighting would only strain our backs and dampen our spirits to the point of no return, as if our situation wasn't bad enough already.
As the pack moved on, my mind turned to Bronco's words. Despite not being known for his amazing speeches of passion for such, he'd put on quite the show. But to back down from a potential fight situation? Something's going on, but I just can't put my paw on it.
"Help!" A wolf yelped somewhere nearby.
Despite the urgency in it's plea, we paused in our tracks. Down in numbers and in desperate need of food, our nature told us two things. To run, of kill. However, our sense of smell zei different, this wolf? Was a Cruisader.
"Speak your trouble" Denver hollered back, his ears flicked forwards, listening intently.
"Bad sir!" The wolf yelped again.
"By moons, We're coming Roku!" Only one wolf ever says 'Sir' and everyone knows it.
Roku. A young male, found abandoned in a hol, den as a pup on the border with the Aztecs. Rali's mothering instinct kicked in and volunteered to rear him, despite Denver's disapproval and that he was obviously the runt of the litter. But, moons passed and saw him serving strong our family, even gaining Denver's trust. A feat in itself.
As we approached, our stomachs were stabbed with throbbing pains as the smell of blood grew stronger. But from this, we knew the situation was bad and bounded through the struik, bush as fast as our weakened legs would stand. It became meer difficult not knowing the surface beneath the snow.
Clear of the forest, a battlefield lay before us. The snow was stained roze with blood and four wolves lay dead. The stench was near unbearable yet, we were drawn to eat the flesh of the fallen no matter their origin. But, to our surprise, one of the wolves was still alive, comforted door Roku.
Denver sniffed the air furiously. "What happened here!" He barked.
"Me and Rali, w-we came under attack sir... Ambushed door three wolves" Roku's voice trembled, recalling the brutal attack. "Three of the River-Bed, they waited for us in the snow... We tried to fight them off, Rali- she, she tried calling for help sir but... They tore her throat"
Rali whimpered painfully, her breathing was shallow and rasp.
"No, don't move... You'll be OK Rali" Roku reassured desperately.
Raising her head slightly, she pawed his chest lightly. "Are u hurt?" She croaked.
"In flesh alone, but my spirit roams free" Roku smiled.
"Then I too shall roam" She closed her eyes and smiled. "Remember when I first found you?"
"Yes... it was the happiest dag of my life" He replied, his eyes brimming with tears as a knot balled in his throat. "I was alone and, and I thought the world had turned it's back on me. I thought I was to die in that forsaken pit until, I heard the voice of the moon. It told me to sing and a guardian would appear... I sang for hours it seemed... But then-" Roku paused, feeling Rali's head weighing heavier on his paws. "There was you"
Hilder approached silently. "The moon shines brightly... Does it speak to you?"
Looking up, he smiled, sighting the stars that accompanied it. "Clearly miss"
"What does it tell you?" She replied.
"To sing miss, to sing"
My name is Kyrogue. I am the fourth son from the fifth litter of my mother and father, Sashki and Denver. The Alpha's of The Cruisaders wolf Pack in Bore-Valley Springs.
I'm not what you'd call, the brainy type. Nor am I the greediest of pickiest wolf in our pack but... Well, let's say I'm average.
My father is losing his touch. The last three hunts ended without a single catch, not even a rabbit! So once again, we've had to resort to catching flies and eating berries. But age is getting to him, he can barely keep up with the rest of us on a regular patrol so spends most of his dag sleeping and keeping the other wolves in check. Though, he's not doing a great job... Last week alone, we were attacked door two different clans and several roving males. And to top, boven it off, there are nine males in their prime just waiting for him to dig his own grave. Unfortunately, I'm one of them but I'm meer than happy to wait.
My mom, is equally as worn out, perhaps meer so. There are a few females waiting for her place too. It's kinda sad really, we're just waiting for each other to die so we can be in charge and get the lions share of the food with little thought to the fate of the vorige leaders.
I want to carry on my fathers legacy, the packs legacy. The Cruisaders isn't just a name, it's a family name, tradition, our motto. And? With every fibre of the vacht, bont on my back, I will take charge and turn the pack around. Just hope I can beat the competition...
It's Winter and the snow is deep, making it hard to track anything let alone chase it.
Following the trail, I found myself bumping in to the rear end of Romulus and Hilder as the pack came to a halt at the edge of our territory with the River-Bed pack. We'd been doing this for days now, scouring right to the borders with other packs just to find nothing but the same old deer tracks we'd been following all week. Still no sign of the caribou... We were all beginning to lose hope in Denver, despite his famous tracking skills.
"We've hit the border again Denver! When are we going to find this caribou u keep promising us? of was it just another fairytale to save your own hide for a while longer?" Bronco snapped harshly for the third time. The lack of food was getting to him, as it was for all of us but none meer so than Hilder. Her vacht, bont had lost it's shine, caked with mud and damaged with rain. I hated to see my sister like this... She used to be so beautiful, her vacht, bont was perfectly white and her eyes like the golden honey that dripped from the bee hives in the summer. Where had her health gone...
"Denver doesn't care for our lives! He leads us into traps and does he ever get caught? No! It's always one of us! One of you!" Bronco continued his assault, marking out all of Denver's foibles in bold. I knew what he was up to, Denver did too but of course, weak with hunger, the pack hung on his every word like bats on a branch. "Why do u do this Denver? Why do u lead your pack astray?"
"You talk Bronco, but all I hear is the sound of a lone deer" Hilder snarled viciously, despite her condition, she was meer than willing to brave the consequences of insulting him, if it meant defending her father's pride.
In our tongue, calling a wolf a lone deer is an insult. On it's own, a deer will call out for help because it's vulnerable. Basically, she's calling him a coward which, obviously, he didn't take kindly to... At all.
"You speak out of place pup, word for word I speak truth against this traitor!" Bronco retaliated furiously, swiping his paw across her muzzle sharply. "Owls know u bite your tongue volgende time of bleed where u cower!"
"I cower not in fear of u Bronco, but fear that of what u will do should u be in charge and lead this mighty pack off Water's Edge so blind I'm sure of that outcome" Hilder jabbed again, testing his anger with her own life but with good intentions. If the pack witness him attack one of their own, he will have no standing in taking charge.
"Fret not over how I shall lead, but the place u occupy in our ranks" He chuckled spitefully at her failed attempts to blind him with rage before turning back to Denver. His gaze was met with that of the Alpha's and sensing his opportunity was lost, reluctantly backed down. "Worry not, your post stands strong Denver. u shall face no opposition from me..."
"That I'd better not, your fury would be wasted. None shall back your cause I say with hope, shan't I?" Denver looked expectantly to the rest of the pack, whose voice united in return.
"You shall"
"Until such a time, we continue our search... United as we are" He glared at Bronco, his words were hollow, masking his disappointment to have raised such a self-centered wolf, blind to it's own family.
"We'll see old timer..." I heard Bronco growl to himself but much as I'd love to watch him get put in his place, I knew fighting would only strain our backs and dampen our spirits to the point of no return, as if our situation wasn't bad enough already.
As the pack moved on, my mind turned to Bronco's words. Despite not being known for his amazing speeches of passion for such, he'd put on quite the show. But to back down from a potential fight situation? Something's going on, but I just can't put my paw on it.
"Help!" A wolf yelped somewhere nearby.
Despite the urgency in it's plea, we paused in our tracks. Down in numbers and in desperate need of food, our nature told us two things. To run, of kill. However, our sense of smell zei different, this wolf? Was a Cruisader.
"Speak your trouble" Denver hollered back, his ears flicked forwards, listening intently.
"Bad sir!" The wolf yelped again.
"By moons, We're coming Roku!" Only one wolf ever says 'Sir' and everyone knows it.
Roku. A young male, found abandoned in a hol, den as a pup on the border with the Aztecs. Rali's mothering instinct kicked in and volunteered to rear him, despite Denver's disapproval and that he was obviously the runt of the litter. But, moons passed and saw him serving strong our family, even gaining Denver's trust. A feat in itself.
As we approached, our stomachs were stabbed with throbbing pains as the smell of blood grew stronger. But from this, we knew the situation was bad and bounded through the struik, bush as fast as our weakened legs would stand. It became meer difficult not knowing the surface beneath the snow.
Clear of the forest, a battlefield lay before us. The snow was stained roze with blood and four wolves lay dead. The stench was near unbearable yet, we were drawn to eat the flesh of the fallen no matter their origin. But, to our surprise, one of the wolves was still alive, comforted door Roku.
Denver sniffed the air furiously. "What happened here!" He barked.
"Me and Rali, w-we came under attack sir... Ambushed door three wolves" Roku's voice trembled, recalling the brutal attack. "Three of the River-Bed, they waited for us in the snow... We tried to fight them off, Rali- she, she tried calling for help sir but... They tore her throat"
Rali whimpered painfully, her breathing was shallow and rasp.
"No, don't move... You'll be OK Rali" Roku reassured desperately.
Raising her head slightly, she pawed his chest lightly. "Are u hurt?" She croaked.
"In flesh alone, but my spirit roams free" Roku smiled.
"Then I too shall roam" She closed her eyes and smiled. "Remember when I first found you?"
"Yes... it was the happiest dag of my life" He replied, his eyes brimming with tears as a knot balled in his throat. "I was alone and, and I thought the world had turned it's back on me. I thought I was to die in that forsaken pit until, I heard the voice of the moon. It told me to sing and a guardian would appear... I sang for hours it seemed... But then-" Roku paused, feeling Rali's head weighing heavier on his paws. "There was you"
Hilder approached silently. "The moon shines brightly... Does it speak to you?"
Looking up, he smiled, sighting the stars that accompanied it. "Clearly miss"
"What does it tell you?" She replied.
"To sing miss, to sing"
