Splash of Blue Moonlight

Mate to Fox

Mother of Beaver, Petal, Spirit, Drop, Tumble, Storm, Wheat, Sun, Sunbeam, Moon, Vixen, and Loud

Temporary Member of Brave Team, then Hawk Team

Fierce Pack woke up one morning to the agonized howls of little Splash, who was writhing about in her nest. Mountain was looking at her, terrified of what Sparrow would do if her daughter died on his watch.

Autumn rushed over from his nest, fur still rumpled from laying on his side, and began to examine the pup. Before their very eyes, her fur began to glow and spark, and by the time that Sparrow dashed into the cave where the pups and their sitters lived, her fur was a completely different color, an otherworldly blue, and her eyes, mouth, and paws were emitting an eerie glow. The pup had stopped thrashing and seemed fine to Autumn, but now everyone but little Fox, the newest member of the pack, gave her a wide berth when she walked by. The glow only seemed to happen at night, during the day she was just an unnatural blue wolf.

***

Splash peered into her mother's den between the roots of the great oak. The alpha was resting on a pile of leaves, her heavily pregnant belly rising and falling softly. She was due any day now for her 4th litter, which was part of the reason why Splash was visiting her so early in the morning. Her eyes and paws had stopped glowing with the eerie blue light when the sun rose, making her less likely to wake her mother with the light. She gently prodded at Sparrow's shoulder until she began to stir.

"Why must you wake me so early in the morning, child?" Sparrow grumbled. "You're not a pup anymore, you do not need my permission to leave the camp."

"I know that," Splash huffed, "but I had something different to ask you."

Sparrow sat up as quickly as she could with her belly in the way. "Speak then. I have a long day ahead of me."

"You have not named an heir. When you were my age, you were already named as heir by Shadow. At least, that is what dad told me." Splash tried to stand tall in the den, but her upright ears barely touched the top of the den. She was always a small wolf, and this fact showed when she stood next to the younger Fox.

Sparrow's hackles rose slightly but then quickly settled. "Am I to assume that you think you should be named heir?"

Splash nodded, unaware of her mother's flaring temper. "Everyone says I'm cursed because of what happened when I was a pup, but Autumn says it may be a sign of a new moon goddess and her blessing. If I am blessed by the moon goddess, then I-"

"You do not know if there is a new goddess and neither does Autumn!" Sparrow snapped, her teeth coming dangerously close to Splash's nose. "All we know is the existence of the spirit realm, not any gods or goddesses. Your...affliction," she spat the word, " does not indicate anything."

At Splash's dejected look, Sparrow sighed. "When my litter is born, I will ask Autumn to convene with the spirits for their advice. I'm sure Shadow will have something to say on the future of the pack."

One quick look from Sparrow told Splash that she should leave, and she quickly darted from the den to avoid angering her mother further.

***

Sparrow's decision was made easy for her when the litter was born with only one pup, sickly and not anticipated to survive a month. Splash was named heir soon after the birth.

Splash is a brash and flighty leader, the role of Alpha practically fell into her lap. She immediately negated the rule her mother, Sparrow, made forbidding all breeding to the Alpha's mate aside from the actual mated pair itself. Splash now allows any female, single or not, to breed to her mate Fox if he so chooses. She is keeping the rule preventing any wolf under the age of 3 years to have pups, though some rebel from this rule and have pups in secret. If they do have pups outside of this rule, Splash will not allow the pups to be protected by a pupsitter and they must instead rely on their parents' skills.

Splash believes she was blessed by a new lunar god or goddess, which caused her blue fur to form as a pup. She asks Bracken to make frequent trips to the mountains to speak with the spirits and this new deity, but he has been unsuccessful in reaching them so far.