Black Fire

task.  The amber coloured pup was often
left alone for long stretches of time while his parents tirelessly hunted to
keep his belly full.  He was glad that
his mother and father were so efficient, so cunning with every movement.  He felt safe when he was in their care.

His name was Black Fire, an appropriate name that
matched his confident personality.  He
walked with a swagger, even when everything around him could crush his tiny
body with little effort. 

As he grew and became stronger, muscles forming over his once soft bones, his
parents began to realize the potential that he held.  He wasn’t afraid of much, and was an efficient
hunter, being able to sniff out a vole under two feet of snow.  They began encouraging the young male to go
out on his own, to find a mate and start a pack that could rival that of the
canines around them.

He was reluctant to split from his parents, but Black
Fire trusted in their judgement.  One
chilly Autumn day, he left.  His luscious
pelt coloured nicely with fallen Autumn leaves, their warm colouring like
flames raining down around him.

Several days passed, the first time he had been truly
alone since his quiet birth just over a year ago. 

He had expectations to live up to, and a purpose in
which he moved.

Black Fire met several she-wolves in his travels,
Hyacinth, the blue female whose quick tongue made him feel belittled.  And then there was Viola, who was terrified
of him.

And then there was Owl Feather.

Not the bravest, not the prettiest, and not the
smartest.  Yet she beheld all the features
that Black Fire felt that were good in a mate.

She was caring, and listened to him when he got upset
over a failed hunt.

She was the wolf that he began his pack with.  And for a short year, it was one of the
happiest times in his life.  Until a hunt
went wrong.

*_*_*_*_*

“Owl?” The black dappled male 
questioned to the female, who was crouched on the ground with her
shoulders hunched.  The metallic scent of
blood was in the air, although he couldn’t seem to see the source of it. “What’s
wrong?”

Her shoulders shook as she panted, her shoulders hunched and her head
hanging low.  Pink foam dripped from her
mouth from her strained breathing.

“Owl?”

Suddenly, with a whine, the female dropped. 
Tumbling to the ground with her shoulder dug deep into the dirt.  A nasty slash ran along her stomach, the soft
flesh torn.  Blood soaked the fur around
it, dripping down her hind legs.  Black
Fire gasped, pressing his paws to the wound. 
If he could just get to the Herbalist-!

But he would have no time to do that. 
Her heart had already stopped, leaving her body limp on the ground with
her eyes still open, just starting to glaze over as she stared at setting sun,
whose rays sent Black Fire’s pelt to molten lava, the dancing hues of red and
black the last thing that she’d ever see.

*_*_*_*_*

He ruled alone now, the Alpha of a large pack, with plenty of wolves to pass
the duties around.

Pups were born, wolves left, elders died.  Life went on.

Bio written by Glacier