Banrigh

          The young she-wolf slunk through the dark hollow, trying to get through camp without running into Iaus who would undoubtedly have a billion questions to ask her about her scouting mission before he let her sleep. She also kept an eye out for Hakaan who had become a bit like Iaus' assistant, and who would bring her straight to him if she was seen. She did her job, and— she thought— she did it well, so why did she have to give such a long and detailed report right away every single time? Her thinking was that if she found something that needed immediate attention she would tell someone 'important' and if not she would go to sleep. Such a long day's work required much slee-! As she was craning her neck to peer at the higher-ups' den she ran into something solid which made an 'oof!' sound that mirrored her own.
          "You really ought to watch where you're going there, uh... sorry, I don't know your name."
          A deep growl sounded from the solid object that the she-wolf had run into and she froze. The words weren't menacing, but that voice caused her to shrink a bit as she looked round to stare into a pair of deep, black rimmed gray eyes. She cleared her throat and stood back up to her full height which was nothing compared to this wolf's. She thought she knew him, and she had seen him around... this was Dalibor. He was on Foulkes' hunting team and he was very highly regarded around camp like all of his siblings.
          "Ah, right, I don't do much fraternizing with you lot. I'm just here to work. I'm Banrigh," she said in a matter-of-fact tone that was almost good enough to cover up her initial awe at this wolf's size and the depth of his voice.
          "Of course, of course. You've a very important job to do, why would you?" Dalibor said with a smirk, "here, let me help you sneak into the den. I'll tell you if Iaus comes looking."
          Banrigh caught herself smiling in surprise at his offer to help her— and more so at his knowledge of her habit of sneaking in at night. She nodded, unable to stop her smile, and slunk past him while he trailed after, keeping watch.

—

          Banrigh slipped through the den entrance unheard, slinking softly around each nest until she came to the one she was looking for. The occupant was an enormous golden wolf who was gently snoring away, and she grinned as she crept right up to him. Waiting a few more seconds as the glorious feeling of triumph washed over her, the scout glanced around at the other sleeping wolves and wondered whether this was such a good idea. Then she shrugged and hissed into the golden wolf's ear.
          "Hakaan! I'm here with the report!"
          The alpha's bright blue eyes shot open and he bolted upright with a sharp, startled bark that stirred everyone else in the den. Most of them merely opened one eye, saw that Banrigh was causing her new favorite kind of trouble and went right back to sleep. Recently, the scout had figured that if Hakaan kept hunting her down every night to give him the report, she would just have to lean into it. By this point Banrigh was giving her report this way most of the nights she was on night patrol, and the rest of the Strong and Wise had gotten used to it.
          "I can't believe you sometimes, Banrigh. You're a menace and you know it," the new alpha shot his apprentice a melancholy look, though by this point he had calmed down and settled in his nest once again.
          "I do know it, and what I'm doing is simply paying back all the nights you woke me up to give the report as soon as I got home," the scout giggled softly.
          "You would finally call this place home when you learned how to terrorize me every night," Hakaan grumbled with a sidelong glare as he settled in to listen to the night's report.

—

          Banrigh was on night patrol again, as had become her usual routine. She didn't mind it anymore since she could really get some time to herself to think and enjoy the cool night air. Tonight was different, though, and she couldn't figure out exactly how. The air was still and... dry. The scout looked left and right as she walked along a new path. Strictly speaking she was on watch duty, but something had driven her to take more time to explore deeper into the copse of trees in this part of the fen. That's it! She stopped suddenly with the thought. The fen is dry. She contemplated this for a few moments, realizing that at this time of year her paws should be squishing into soft damp ground in some areas, but that hadn't happened this whole walk. A cacophony of birds taking flight sounded above in the canopy. Then there came a gust of hot wind from up ahead and Banrigh looked up to see that even as she had been standing there thinking, the fire she hadn't realized she was headed toward had spread to the trees right in front of her.
          Eyes widening she backed up a few paces, mesmerized by the deep orange glow of the flames. They spread fast, easily eating up the dead, dry grasses and dehydrated trees around her. She looked around for a safe exit, trying not to breathe the thick black smoke that was rising around her and blackening her red fur. She spotted a clear enough space through the trees and dashed for it, paws merely skimming the earth as she ran faster than she had ever run. She had to go and warn her packmates and Hakaan abou— The thought was cut off as she tried to avoid a falling branch and was unsuccessful. The branch tore a gash over the edge of her right eye and she howled in pain but kept running.
          Several times before she cleared the area of the fire she stumbled, the blood from her wound running into her eye and blurring her vision. When she finally made it to the edge of the trees on the hill above the hollow she looked as if she herself had caught fire. She looked around desperately for Dalibor, but he was nowhere to be found so she stumbled down the hill and let out the best warning howl she could with lungs that felt like they were also on fire.

—

          Banrigh stepped a paw gingerly into the river as her packmates all but swarmed in and began to swim across after that strange gray wolf who had come to their rescue in the nick of time. She gasped as the cool water washed over her scraped paw pads. Next to her an emotionally tattered looking Dalibor winced as he watched her slowly put another paw into the water and let out another ragged exhale. The scout took a deep breath in, thinking of how clean her soot-stained fur would be after this swim. Then she looked at her mate and bumped her head to his.
          "It's alright, Dal. It's nicer than I made it seem."
          "Why don't I believe you?" The dark wolf sighed, exhausted, "we can stay on this side as long as you need to. We'll catch up when we can."
          The she-wolf held back her indignant response about being just as able to cross a river as the rest of them. She knew she had nearly given the poor wolf a heart attack staying out too long and then coming home in that state. Dalibor was the largest wolf in the pack, but over their flight and journey he had looked smaller and smaller with each challenge she had had to face. Hanging her head in resignation, she sat down on the riverbank with her paws still in the water and a relieved Dalibor sitting next to her with a tired smile.

—

Banrigh lounged on a flat, sun-baked rock as she observed a group of pups trying to practice their stalking with their tails waggling in the air. She shook her head and chuckled softly, shifting her bad flank as it got a tad too warm. She hadn't ever fully gotten back up to snuff after her ordeal with the fire that devastated the pack's previous home. The worst of the burns had left her skin very sensitive on one side, and she and Dalibor had had to resort to adopting the foundling pups since pups of their own were now out of the question. She had trained those foundlings along with Wynandir much like she was training Hakaan's pups now.
"Keep at it, pups! You're doing well, though you'd do better if you kept your rear-ends down so the prey can't see them," the red-tinged she-wolf called out to the trainees.
There were several sheepish grins and some chatter as the pups helped each other adjust their postures, and for most of the rest of the session they looked much better, though the end did devolve into an uncontrollable bout of sparring. Eventually the she-wolf got them under control and sent them back into the hollow to play and rest. As for herself, Banrigh made her way to the river for a cool swim, then back to the higher-ups' den where Dalibor was already waiting with a fresh bit of actual prey from his hunt.

[Starting ~347]