Eastern Pondhawk, of the Rising Horizon
Pondhawk was born Horizon, the grandson of Tundra Runner and the son of Gathering Storm. From a young age, he showed promise in all that he showed interest in, with a certain specialty in hunting -- more specifically, finishing. Spending long days and even longer nights play fighting with the other pups and chasing after prey-toys brought back by the hunting team. When the previous Pathfinder, Shasta, began to lose her sight, some in the pack even began to believe that Horizon would grow into her replacement.
However, it wouldn't take long for disaster to strike. Unbeknownst to him, or even to the Pack of Cyclones, Horizon had caught the gaze of the Vengeful God Thunder Weaver. Thunder Weaver, knowing the disappearance of the future Pathfinder would throw the pack out of it's natural balance, manipulated his daughter into kidnapping the young pup and hiding him away deep within the cursed swamp she called her home. Aided by their Goddess, the wolf of the Okefenokee crept within Cyclone borders and stole away the pup. In the aftermath, Gathering Storm - unable to cope with her loss - would die of a broken heart.
As the pup entered the Okefenokee, he would lose all the memories of his former life. Placed under the care of the Alpha Black Bear, Horizon was renamed Eastern Pondhawk after the dragonflies that frequented the humid area. The Pack of the Okenokee was a brutal, ruthless pack, built upon decades of pain and suffering. Pondhawk's life was no different-- he would grow up following their homicidal laws and rituals, always fearing the Goddess that seemed to lurk just out of sight. Pondhawk grew up strong, his skill in battle neigh unmatched by any in the pack other than his adoptive mother and his adoptive father, Diamondback Rattlesnake. In his time here, he would grow to have few connections, but the ones he did build grew to be thicker than the blood of which he was born.
As Pathfinder Shasta's time grew shorter, however, the Goddess of the Cyclones would soon find Horizon within the clutches of the Okefenokee and her mislead daughter. Desperate to regain the balance of the packs, the Goddess Sky Strider would materialize herself within the Cyclones and lead them to battle herself against the supernatural wolves her daughter presided over.
In this battle, Pathfinder Shasta, and many of her comrades, would die. As would the Wicked God Thunder Weaver, killed by his own mate's fangs. After learning of his destiny, Pondhawk was faced with a difficult decision: to avoid his destiny and return to the pack to which he had grown up in, or to face it and leave all that he knew behind. In the end, the decision was a hard one. Although the Okefenokee was a difficult pack to survive, or thrive within, his ties to it were strong-- the memories of shadowing his surrogate mother and learning to fish and hunt with Rattlesnake.
But the wolves of the Cyclone would not survive without him. So with a heavy heart, he returned to the pack of his birth. The crowd that greeted him was not a welcome one, their hearts bitter with the loss of their dear friend and Pathfinder, they were not so eager to accept a replacement that didn't measure up to her incredible shadow. On top of that, after leaving the Okefenokee, Pondhawk found himself facing hallucinations and visions of his mother and other members of the Okefenokee, scorning him and every decision he made.
Constantly haunted, Pondhawk did his best to fully lead Cyclone to it's full potential. With the God Thunder Weaver gone, he found himself navigating a world that was off-kilter; snow in the middle of summer, elk with oddly colored fur, new and dangerous herbs to be avoided. Although he would never truly measure up to Shasta's legacy, the pack could not deny that Pondhawk was adept in his own ways... though oft they caught him quietly arguing with himself, or digging at his ears in an effort to dismiss the screaming within his own head.
