Noctilucent

Noctilucent means night-shining, referring to the phenomenon where clouds shine brightly in the night sky. She was named this because her fur is darker than the average wolf, except for the bright shining mark between her eyes. 

Noctilucent was born into the Charred Pine Pack, along the far border of the coniferous forest. Her oldest companion is Fogstep, one of Leaf-Paw's scouts, who was raised in Charred Pine as well. Noctilucent had always been a confident, commanding wolf even as a child, and Fogstep was a friendly wolf about as old as her, so naturally they were close friends from the start. Though both wolves had many friends within the pack, they were closest to each other. As adolescents they had dreams of founding their own pack; many within Charred Pine joked they were as good as mates already. This wasn't entirely off-mark- Fogstep and Noctilucent loved and cared for each other deeply, though they never proclaimed themselves mated the way other wolves in their pack did.

This was the start of the two of them growing apart from their pack; disagreements with old traditions, hierarchies, and so on grew as they grew older. Disappointment and disagreements steadily grew until things came to a breaking point when leaders began whispering about, then outright discussing, Fogstep's white fur posing a threat to the pack at large. Noctilucent was outraged despite her friend keeping silent, her head held low when leaders came near. She argued on Fogstep's behalf for several days until one night her friend approached her while the pack was sleeping, saying she was leaving for the good of everyone and not to follow her. 

How could such a strong-willed, loving wolf agree to this? Noctilucent insisted on leaving with Fogstep that night, and they slipped past the borders in the moonlight without notice. Noctilucent saw one of the night watch in the distance, his yellow eyes glinting in the dim light, as she followed behind her dear friend. She knew he must have seen them, must have known what was happening. She knew he did not speak out because he wanted Fogstep gone. Bitterly, Noctilucent turned her ears back and slunk into the trees after her friend, deciding she would not mention this to her later.

Life without a pack was bliss for a while, the two young wolves finally free of stiff traditions they did not understand or wish to partake in. During their wanderings, they did not need to plan hunts or gather herbs- they lived in the moment eating small animals and scavenging carcasses they came across. But after some weeks they had to face the reality of the situation: they could not live like this forever. They were skirting the edges of the Charred Pine pack's territory to keep out of danger but they knew if they stayed, eventually they would be found by their old pack members and either forced back into the ranks or killed as if they were outsiders. Noctilucent made the decision to head south, away from the borders and toward the river. There would be plenty of fish and birds on the river to keep them fed, she proposed, and they could travel along the river to find new territory to claim or a new pack to accept them. 

It didn't take long for Noctilucent to find the scent of an unfamiliar wolf once the pair was clear of the borders. She saw him across the river- a pale grey-and-brown male with bright blue eyes. He was alone now, but did he have others coming to meet him? Was he also without a pack? She caught his scent on the air as they stared across the water at one another- pine and cold air, but something else... a faint scent of strange wolves. He watched her silently. He didn't seem to be sizing her up or ready to strike, so she let him look as she observed him, then turned back towards her temporary camp to tell Fogstep what she had found. The male wolf did not move to follow her, and she was intrigued. Noctilucent returned night after night and each night there he was across the river, willing to simply observe from a distance. His scent changed each time, always less of that strange scent and more wet leaves, rabbit fur, the pungent smell of ginkgo fruit. He was living over there--she concluded-- alone, across the river in the grove of yellowing ginkgo trees. 

The night Noctilucent's heat set in, she came to the river again but did not stand still at the edge of the water like she had on previous nights. The young pale wolf interested her so much, she wanted to know him at last. She was confident he was alone, not a threat, and she threw her body into his as they ran to meet in the shallow river. He must have been about her same age, she guessed, because he did not seem to immediately sense her heat or at least he didn't act the same way as other males she had encountered. He was clearly interested, but not forceful or crude. Eventually he took things on instinct, and she followed him back across the river to where he had created a small den. 

His name was Rain Dove, he told her, and he had traveled down from the mountain territories to found his own pack. Noctilucent told him of her friend and how they left the coniferous forest in search of a new home. Rain Dove quickly accepted Fogstep as well and they suddenly were a family, somehow all mates and not, at the same time. This new, uncharted territory was where Noctilucent knew she felt most at home.