Writing Contest! (ANNOUNCED WINNERS)

I'm very excited to participate in this, it was very difficult to keep the word count below the maximum. I had to settle for cutting the epilogue to make it exactly 1500 words. I hope y'all enjoy, this will kind of serve as the impetus for writing more in depth lore for my pack. My inspiration was the picture and the lore I have been writing non-stop in my head since I joined Wolvden.

Edit 2: Was struck by better ending inspo and had to go back and edit out the fluff that was eating up my words. Also changed the title.

"A Path Chosen and Left Behind" by Mastatibbs

***

Snowflakes drifted softly through the air as Leaf padded through the underbrush, stepping nimbly over fallen branches and debris. The aging scout struggled to keep her breathing steady to conceal herself from spies, but the long trek from home made her paws ache and her bones creak as exhaustion set in. She halted in front of a fallen pine when she came to a clearing that had been dense with trees. Her hackles rose as she beheld a being in the clearing that made her blood run cold, and she immediately turned tail and sprinted back the way she came, a newfound energy driving her home. She must report this to the Alpha.

***

A chill breeze carried the scent of snow and pine through the glade where Fierce Pack made their home. A trio of birch trees made a triangle in the center, each tree’s trunk surrounded by loose foliage the wolves used as bedding.In the center of the trees, a wolf black as night looked over a mottled white and black wolf with a gash on his leg, the pack alpha not far from where they lay.

Shadow’s piercing green eyes narrowed as she watched the herbalist prepare a poultice for her mate’s wound, white paws shifting in the snow as she struggled to keep herself still. “You’re sure he’ll be okay?” The dark grey and black leader’s voice came out higher than she intended, and she blew a puff of frosty air from her lungs to get Night’s attention.

The black wolf’s blue eyes narrowed as he continued to mix the poultice on his last good leaf. “What good was sending me to train with that bear if you’re not going to trust me?” he huffed as he finished his task. He scooped up the leaf, now heavy with the oily, aromatic ointment, and slapped it down on Frostbite’s hind leg. The younger scout yelped with pain and threw snow onto Night and Shadow with his thrashing. The healer snarled in irritation and jumped back, shaking out his fur in irritation.

His watery blue eyes looked up as Shadow jumped over to him, furiously licking his face and ears. She watched Night as he stalked back to his nest, grumbling to himself about careless wolves wasting his herb stores. Her white ears perked up as she heard someone approaching the center of the glade on uneven footing.

“Shadow!” Leaf called, slowing to a halt in front of the alpha, drawing the attention of a couple of yearlings gnawing on an elk bone near the hunter’s nest. One stood up and slowly made her way over to where the pack leaders met with the greenish brown scout.

“Leaf, you’re back from your trip early,” Frostbite remarked, struggling to sit up on his haunches. Shadow placed a firm paw on his shoulder, making him lay still and stay off of his wounded leg. He huffed in resignation and took in Leaf’s wide amber eyes and heaving flanks. “I hope everything is alright?”

Leaf shook her head as her breath puffed around her head, “I found something at the southside of our woods, right next to the border.” She looked at Shadow and lowered her head slightly, exhaustion starting to take over. “It was only a mile or so past the racoon’s lair. I worry it will make its way further into the woods and endanger the pack.”

Shadow curled her lip back, exposing sharp fangs as she stood and strode in the direction her scout had just come from. She looked up to the sky where the sun hung low towards the horizon. “I will go and take care of this,” she looked back at her mate as she spoke, “Have the pack ready for evacuation in case I am not able to drive it off. If I am not back by the time the moon is high, get the pack out of here. With or without me, the pups must be protected.” Frostbite nodded in silence, face grim as he stood and began to limp over to where his packmates lay in a patch of sun, bellies full after a day of successful hunts.

The yearling jumped up from her eavesdropping, loping over to where Shadow drank from a puddle before her journey. Her coat was almost in total contrast to her mother and alpha’s coat. Where Shadow was mostly black with a white face and unders, Smoke’s was mostly white like her father’s with a black face and saddle. Her eyes, a more faded green than her mother’s shone brightly as she spoke. “Y-you shouldn’t go alone. I’ll go with you and help drive whatever Leaf saw away.”

Shadow straightened and looked her daughter in the eye. “You are my heir and thus will be leader if anything happens to me. You have to stay behind. For the good of the pack.”

Smoke pinned her ears back under her mother’s withering gaze. “W-what good is an heir if they never learn how to protect their pack until too late. I want to come with you and h-help.”

Shadow narrowed her eyes at Smoke and wagged her tail once. “Very well. But we sprint until we reach Racoon, and from there we will conserve our energy for the return.”

With that, mother and daughter broke into a run and made their way into the darkening forest.

***

“You’ve been quiet since we left camp,” Shadow muttered as they made their way slowly to the edge of the territory. Fallen trees became more common, turning the once dense forest into a thin gathering of trees. Night had fallen before they had passed the raccoon’s den, and the two wolves fluffed out their fur in an attempt to fight off the cold. “If there is something you wish to say, say it.”

Smoke’s eyes shifted away from her mother’s stare. “ I guess I just wanted to get out of the den for a bit,” she muttered.

“This is not some little trip,” Shadow growled, baring her teeth as she came to a halt, “If I had known you thought of this as a fun trip then I would have left you at camp. This could be a dangerous creature and now I am risking not only my life but the life of my heir to-”

“I don’t want to be your heir!” Smoke snapped. Shadow’s jaw hung open in mid sentence, her hackles slowly lifting.

“Is that why you wanted to come? So you could slip away from your responsibilities unnoticed while I was distracted?” Shadow’s voice rose in pitch as she growled, nearly on top of Smoke as she leaned closer. “All of the work I did to train you, all the effort your father and I made to make Fierce Pack strong and you want to throw your future away!?”

“I never wanted that for my future,” Smoke whined, her tail pinned between her legs, “That is what you wanted and I-” Smoke choked back a cry of alarm as underbrush snapped behind Shadow. Her mother whirled to face the approacher and sucked in a breath.

In a circle of demolished trees stood a strange creature, one the two wolves had never seen. Its emaciated body towered over them, long, spider-like limbs pushing the trees aside like they were mere twigs. Glowing yellow eyes peered at them from a wolfish face, but there was nothing familiar in this creature.

“Little pups,” it hissed, a voice like claws scraping on stone echoing around them. “Do stop your bickering and show an old spirit the way home.”

“H-home?” Smoke barked ignoring the alpha’s glare. “Where is your home? How did you lose your way?”

A breathy laugh rattled out of the creature’s mouth. “Lost my way by following a path I was not meant to take, as all lost souls do. Would you be the kind soul to lead me home?”

“You can’t be serious!” Shadow growled as the spirit pointed a spindly finger to the North, its reach seeming to go on for miles. “This is a trap!”

Smoke looked at her mother with a glimmer in her eye, “We would have died by now if this creature meant us harm. Let me serve my pack in showing it the way home away from our pack.” Shadow looked at her first-born daughter, her head held high for the first time since she had been named heir. She couldn’t deny her this taste of freedom before she was fettered to the life of a pack. She nodded once. As Smoke led the spirit deeper into the woods, Shadow turned back towards her pack and never looked back. As they parted ways for what felt like the last time, Shadow murmured the words of blessing spoken to all young wolves that left the pack to find their own way.

“May the moon light your path, and the sun warm your fur, and may you always find a home if you return.”

END

This is my submission, I hope you enjoy:

Forbidden Thoughts

Here is my entry:))

Goodbye My Moon, Hello My Songbird

With less than 20 minutes to spare, I finally finished my piece! This was a lot of fun to write and I had so much inspiration from it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write ^^

Author’s Note: 

An author’s note is usually found at the end of a piece of writing. But because I wanted to make some points, I thought it would be necessary to add this in the beginning:

First, this piece contains themes of self-harm and suicide. Although suicide is not actually committed in this story, one of the main characters in the story, Achilles, suffers from PTSD as he experiences flashbacks from his past life before arriving in the setting where the story takes place, the Syncopated Clock. So this is pretty much a trigger warning further explained. 

Second, the main reason for these themes is because the piece was inspired by Achilles Come Down, a song by the Gang of Youths where the lyrics depict Achilles’s plight throughout this story. I encourage you to listen to the song as you read, although it’s not necessary. The lyrics will be spread throughout the piece and not all of them will be used.

Third, although the picture is supposed to depict two wolves, I see something else in my own eyes. So to keep true to my own interpretation, in place of another canine character, I will use a feline character instead. One that is frightened and overwhelmed by the accumulation of thoughts that run through his friend’s head that suddenly became animate. 

Fourth, in a deleted scene from the story, while running towards Maetox Lands, Achilles hears 13 tolls from the clock tower which signifies the 13th Hour in the Syncopated Clock, hence the name of the piece. 

And with that, I hope you enjoy my entry!

The 13th Hour: Achilles Come Down

Excluding the title, the word count is exactly 1500 words~

I'm really glad I randomly searched 1 in the find user box and found this. I feel really excited about actually having a chance at this! Good luck everyone <3

―――――――――――     Keepers of the Lost Wish    ――――――――――

Link to story

I advise that you read the story itself before reading this. This is my story; Keepers of the Lost Wish. It is the origin story to my pack. I will put this as my pack lore, change my pack name to Keepers of the Lost Wish, etc. after writing this. I honestly didn't plan for it to be the lore of my pack, but it came out cool and the idea struck me as nice, so here I go I guess.

I was in a constant writer's block when I first tried to come up with ideas, but I wanted something fairytale-like yet not too sweet, and after writing "once upon a time", ideas came rolling. I'm better at thinking as I write rather than plan ahead, it seems. The characters do not have a lot of personality and I know that; I'm trying to live up to the fairytale genre. 

I really wanted to elaborate on what the two of them did to get cast out of their pack, but the 1500 word limit smacked my in the face before I got the chance to. You'll have to live with never knowing (unless you check my page where I'll be putting my lore a few years from now when I stop procrastinating).

Thanks for reading! It was extremely fun to write, and whether or not I win anything, I know I'll be getting something out of this! :D

reserving! i'm not a great writer but might as well take a chance 

Okay, a link to my entry on gdocs:

Here!

I had fun with this, as an experiment in dialogue-only!

Reserving a spot!

The Creatures of the Forest (google docs link)

He spent his life wandering, a creature born from the forest, unseen except by those old and young, or those close to death. Born from its life, its death, and its spirit. He led a life without purpose or meaning, and no day was different from the next. At least until He came across the wolves.

The forest was dead. The past fires had ravaged all life; no plants or creatures were spared. No creatures but Him and the wolves. He came across them in a clearing, dead grasses and dry branches littered the ground. The burnt sky washed the forest with a yellow tint, and it made their once gray pelts a dark brown, speckled with ashes. It was eerily silent; the only sounds were paw steps.

They saw Him approach and started growling almost immediately. He knew their lives were nearing the end. He heard their hoarse voices, damaged by the smoke. He saw their ribs and hip bones, evidence of a long starvation, and he saw their tucked tail and trembling limbs. ‘Ah, so that’s why they can see me’, he thought. At once he realized that the forest had brought Him to this clearing. ‘Alright. I’ll help them.’

         He lied down in hopes of calming down the wolves. But they feared His sudden movement and the sound of the dry leaves. It would take patience to build their trust. They were scared and hungry. So, He came up with an idea. There were no creatures left to hunt, not even an edible plant to fill up a stomach. Only He was there. He bit his right front leg, breaking the skin. Warmth spread down his limb. He was now injured, and the wolves could smell blood. He saw the color of his blood and was surprised to see that it was red. The wolves approached.

         They took His offer and fed, and He did not move while they did. But He felt the pain for the first time since He was created. He now understood how a squirrel felt during the last moments of its life, how a cougar felt after a fight for territory. How the trees felt all those times he stepped on them and broke them. But he endured, after all, he was a creature with life, and life felt pain. And suddenly, he understood one more thing. He was a creature with life, and life ends. He felt fear for the first time of his life. But still, He did not move.

         Once the wolves were full, He stood. They growled and stepped back, still wary. He would lead them to the part of the forest the fires had not touched. As He walked, the wolves followed. They knew there was now a source of food. But what about water? He knew that there was a stream down the valley, and so he followed the slope downwards.

         He didn’t know how long it took to reach the stream, for He had no need for time. But the sun had set, and the forest was dark. He waited as the wolves desperately drank, soothing their aching throats. Once they finished, He lied down once again and offered His leg. As the wolves ate, He focused on smelling the air, looking for hints of life. But the scent of smoke was too strong, so he resolved to follow the stream down the mountains. They would find life eventually.

         And so, the group travelled. The wolves would stop to feed and drink every day, and eventually, they grew to trust Him. After all, He was growing weaker, and the wolves stronger. On the third day, He could no longer use His right front leg to walk. He left behind his bones, and on the sixth day, He offered His left flank. The pain was continuous, but He did not want to stop and rest. The forest had given him a purpose, and he would fulfill it.

         But His head eventually became fuzzy, and there was so much he could do before he closed his eyes and fell to the darkness. He awoke next to the stream and noticed a few things. The sky was no longer yellow, but now a pale blue. The air was now clearer, and he could smell their path. And what brought Him the most joy; though they still showed, the wolves’ bones were no longer protruding from their body and He could see their gray fur.

         They had fed while He was asleep, so He resolved to offer His right flank next. He rose and began walking once again, now following the faint scent of live plants and small creatures. The wolves smelled it too and picked up their pace. They were now leading Him instead, pausing occasionally to allow Him to catch up. They travelled this way for a few more sunrises, and He did not sleep again.

         On one day, while the sun was high in the sky, they were able to see the end of the stream, where it connected with a rived and opened into a lake. The sunshine made the water glitter like stars, and He shied away from the brightness of it. The vast space around the lake had scattered trees, and it was littered with the color of blooming flowers. The wild grass was a rich green that showcases the abundance of life. He felt peace at once. He knew the end of the journey had come to an end and sighed with relief at the knowledge that He would be able to rest.

         He led them the rest of the way, hoping they would pick up a scent to hunt. But they did not leave His side. Why would they bother looking for food, when there was a dying creature right in front of their noses? And so, He lied down for the last time and allowed the wolves to feast on Him.

His rest had come, and He returned to the wandering spirit of the forest.

~~~~

Hope you like it! I wanted to write a bit of a mysterious story, and I think it came out pretty good! If any who read it have any comments, feel free to pm me, I'd love to hear any positive feedback :)

I am not gonna lie part of the reason I put this out roughly 24 hours after finding out about it is because I didn't want to read other peoples' entries before writing mine to prevent any sort of influencing. Anyways!!! Enough stalling @ me!!!

I might make minor tweaks and edits after I re-read it tomorrow (can't look at it anymore right now) but the story is complete. Clocked in at 1465 words [wipes sweat off her brow].

Here is the story I wrote! It went through a few ideas, the more of which I will outline at the end of this post. But, considering how little creative writing I've been doing lately I'm pretty proud! I really like the potential of this visual prompt, and I hope I did it justice. Please enjoy, and I am looking forward to reading everyone else's entries!

Edit (12/5): Can't go five minutes without fretting, tsk. If you're interested in my notes for this, here they are! They might clarify some details, but nothing story-breaking and also I am hoping that I communicated everything clearly enough in the story itself. [sweats bullets]

Edit (12/6): Did a re-read, tweaked some words and phrases to be more clear or.. better.... written, lmao. Probably this is final draft. New word total 1489. Also for some reason the forums aren't inserting my horizontal rules so I've drawn my own. Ain't that just the way, sometimes.

Edit (12/22): Last edit. Tweaked wording, removed some confusing italics. New word count = 1488.

“I bet we’ll find a whole elk,” the Chaser grins, bouncing to the front of the hunting party despite her rumbling stomach. Her breath curls like smoke in the crisp winter air. Above her and her companions, skeletal conifers loom, dusted with the same snow that’s covered the ground for the past twenty sunrises. A solitary crow sits high above, cocks its head, and caws. The Chaser lifts her muzzle to it. “See? Even this bird knows we’re the best!”

“You’ll scare everything off, hopping in circles like a dizzy rabbit.” The Companion’s admonishment is gentle, and he shakes his head. “How about this, while our fearless leader here works, why don’t we tell stories – quietly,” he adds. He smiles quickly to the Lead Hunter, half to show he’s teasing and half to create an opening for the suggestion to be shot down, but the more experienced hunter appears lost in thought.

The Companion frowns; his friend has seemed more troubled ever since meeting with their lead wolf. He knows this winter has been hard so far, and the pack didn’t have the food stores that they might have liked, but surely the Lead Hunter had faith. Nobody blamed him for their hardships. Nobody thought the worst. The Lead Hunter had to know that.

The Finisher nods, trotting to catch up to the Chaser and the Companion. “I’ll go first,” she says.

“It is said that if the moon were a wolf, the stars would surely be her many pups. And we tell our young about the antics that they get up to every night. They chase each other across the sky and play in the silver river of their territory, and only the obedient Cave-Keep Star stays in the den and lets us all find our own ways home.” She starts to smile. “Well, I heard that on those clear morning days when you can see the moon but not the stars, that is when the moon gets her chance to relax without worrying for her wild pups!” The Finisher smirks to the soft laughter of her friends.

“I’ll go next!” The Chaser starts dipping into a play bow before regaining her composure and dramatically lifting her nose to the forest and inhaling. “Everyone knows how this forest burned the autumn before last, but I heard how it started from a raven who was really there!” Nobody mentions that she’d just been starting to learn to hunt the autumn before last, and she ignores the good-natured rolling of the Finisher’s eyes and the Companion’s chuff of stifled laughter as she launches into her tale of a laughing jay taunting the clouds until they sent a storm full of lightning to humble the bird. It is a boldly false story, but the hunting party are all laughing by the end of it. Except the Lead Hunter.

He pads up to the group from behind, gently making space for himself. “I recently heard the story of the Monster-Who-Was-Once-A-Wolf.” The Chaser frowns and makes worried eye contact with the Companion. Nobody says anything and the Lead Hunter continues. “He was a scout for his pack, but he was greedy and selfish and hid all the best treasures away so that he could keep them for himself. He buried them each in a different spot, to prevent there from being a single rich target for thieves. As his collection and his paranoia grew, so too did his limbs and teeth stretch until his reach was farther than a wolf can leap. His fur grew thick and coarse so that not even the teeth of the strongest hunters could find skin, until he could hardly be called a wolf at all. When his transformation was complete, he knew only empty hunger and couldn’t remember where he’d hid his precious treasures. So he wanders woods just like-”

The story stops abruptly, and the hunters call themselves to attention as the Lead Hunter lifts his nose. His ears are upright, and his tail still. In the dead silence, a twig snaps up ahead. Their quarry. The Lead Hunter turns to the Finisher, who nods and breaks off from the group to take her position. The Lead Hunter counts his pounding heartbeats with the discipline of practice. There can be no other signal lest they warn the deer in front of them. After the Finisher has been given her time, the Lead Hunter leads the others forwards. He is razor keen, sharpened by hunger and the memory of his lead wolf admitting just how much the pack needs this hunt. He can’t fail. Those who have walked for many seasons must provide for and nurture those with things to learn. That is how the world keeps turning. They need this.

The Lead Hunter breaks ahead, snapping at the young buck’s heels. It starts, striking out with its back hooves in a panic before launching towards where the Finisher hides. The chasers continue their heckling, barely noticing that there are only two of them. The Finisher is up ahead, and she leaps from her hiding spot with teeth bared. The buck keeps charging, too focused on what’s behind to heed what’s ahead. The Finisher’s teeth meet his chest, but the sheer force of the deer pushing forwards barrels the Finisher away. It bolts into the forest.

When the hunters reconvene, the Lead Hunter is limp and still in the snow. There is a bit of blood, but more concerning is the damage to his ribs. As if to add insult to injury, the wind turns to run with the deer’s back. There is no more hunt. The Lead Hunter’s ragged wheezing breath is the only sound for a moment, until the Chaser’s stomach rumbles.

“Go,” says the Companion suddenly, angrily, lifting his head to his packmates. “Fetch the Herbalist... any herbalist.” The Chaser and the Finisher hesitate, but the Companion’s flint hard glare is enough to send them running. Exhausted, the Companion lowers himself to lie next to his dear friend. They have to keep warm. He licks the Lead Hunter’s face.

“Your story was pretty grim,” he says. He can’t stand to be alone with the sound of his friend’s labored breathing. “I- I heard about that Monster, too, though. But... the way I heard it; the scout wasn’t malicious, only desperate. He never hoarded treasures, only hunted them. His pack was dying, and no food or medicine could save them. He ran to the ends of the world willing his legs to grow longer that he might run faster and find something to save those he loved. Until he ran so far he couldn’t find his way home. He just wanted to help. Like you.” The Companion pauses, holding his breath for a sign that the Lead Hunter had heard. Disappointment. He swallows, and curls tighter around his beautiful friend who is dying.

The snap of wood is like thunder. It is a hundred times louder than the twig that had set the hunt into motion. The Companion lifts his head, then trips over himself scrambling backwards. The Monster, its limbs as long and thick as trees and its head as big as a wolf, parts the charred forest like twigs on its approach towards the pair. The Companion, ears flat against his skull and eyes wide, blinks rapidly. The impossible happens. The Lead Hunter soundlessly pushes himself to his paws, though his wounds are still there.

“Monster,” he starts, and the Companion doesn’t remember until later that no breath leaves the Lead Hunter’s lips. The Monster freezes, claws still wrapped around the broken trees, and stares with eyes like moons. “I hope my packmate tells the truth.” The Companion looks desperately up at the person he thinks he loves, but the Lead Hunter does not look back. “I am sorry, that you could not save your pack.” His voice trembles, but with emotion rather than pain. “Please. Help me save mine.”

A long moment passes, the silence and stillness of eternity condensed to mere heartbeats, but then the Lead Hunter steps forwards as if by some unheard agreement. The Monster waits for him, and then turns. They walk back into the forest.

The Companion only stirs when the wind starts, and he can feel his heart beating again. A crow calls in the trees ahead. Nerves frayed by what he has seen, the Companion nonetheless feels himself urged forwards by some gentle push. He treads softly between the trees, still knocked aside by the Monster’s passing, until he finds the deer. It is the same stag from before, he knows it, and the crow sits on its carcass. It peers at him curiously, then flies back up. The Companion watches, then inhales deeply and howls for his packmates to return.

He will never be able to explain it, and the Lead Hunter will never be seen again, but nobody goes hungry that night.

Phew! Thank you for reading my story, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Immediately when I saw the prompt, I thought about ghost stories and playing with the idea of the scene happening in real physical space vs. it happening in a more dream-like un-reality. The very first iteration was going to have the characters telling a story together and, the farther they went into the forest the more elements from their collaborative story would show up around them, until the monster they'd invented stood before them. But that didn't really have an emotional narrative to drive it. So I came up with the idea of a story that a character tells to their dying packmate as a means of trying to comfort them. 1500 words doesn't leave a lot of space for tangents - a good limitation to work with - so everything else just sort of fell into place from there. Originally there was only going to be the two wolves, but then I realized they could be conveniently sent away when the one character starts dying. Plus, they work well with the set-up.

Also, I hope readers catch all the references to Wolvden mechanics in here! I tried to leave some details ambiguous enough that these characters could fit anyone's idea of Wolvden wolves, including the characters' names, but others I did try to include enough to anchor the story in the Wolvden world.