Hufen

    "Hey, Orynne! You won't beat me to the glade!" The young wolf barked happily and took off toward the hollow.
    "No fair, you started without me!" Orynne shouted after him as he ran.
    The light-furred wolf kept running, tongue lolling. He looked back tauntingly for a cocky remark when a streak of dark fur shot past him, cutting him off. He slowed for a second, shocked, then kicked it back up a notch to try and catch her. She was quick, darting through the small spaces between trees and always managing to stay just a few steps ahead. They reached the hollow quite quickly seeing as they were pelting through the forest at top speed and all. Orynne made a graceful stop and turned to taunt Hufen who was still running all-out. Hufen's bright eyes grew wide as he attempted to skid to a halt, but ended up skidding straight into the dark she-wolf. The two of them tumbled into a heap in the grass and leaf litter, took one look at each other and burst out in a fit of laughter.

-

    Hufen and Orynne walked side-by-side through the glade, talking in contentedly quiet tones as their fur brushed together. Eventually the sun rose higher in the sky and Orynne was called away to lead the noon hunt. Hufen brushed his mate's cheek with his own and wished her luck, watching as she bounded off after Wing and Peregrine who had come to fetch her. The light-furred wolf sighed as they disappeared over the next ridge and turned back toward the hollow where his own team would be hanging around together. He didn't get very far before a golden shape plunged out of the brush and all but bowled him over.
    "Leveque! What have I told you about scaring the daylights out of me every time you want to talk?" Hufen exhaled sharply toward his friend.
    The golden wolf didn't hear him through his barking laughter which took a moment to die down. Then he really got going. "I'm sorry, my friend! I need your help if you've a moment? You and Orynne have such a great thing going, and I want to know how I can do the same. I mean, you two just mesh, you go together so well and you never seem to fight. I just want to know how you-"
    Hufen cuffed the golden-furred chatterbox over the ears and said, "quiet down now, brother. I understand you. Just make your feelings known, don't say the thing that immediately comes to mind- No, no. Say the truth, but think before you say it. No, no lying- Leveque! Wait! That's not..."
    He trailed off as his friend bounded away, back through the brush toward the hollow where Syndestar didn't know she was waiting to be very confused. 'I suppose I ought to go after him. He'll make a damned fool of himself otherwise,' Hufen thought with a roll of his yellow eyes and then loped after his friend to try and avert disaster.

-

    Hufen emerged from his den, blinking in the morning sun. He shook out his ruff and stepped further out into the hollow. Nearby the den a newly returned hunting party was partaking in the spoils of the morning. He shook out his fur once again and made his way over to the little group.
    "... and then when Idrit brought it down!? Just fantastic," a young, dark she-wolf— Thorn— was just saying. She looked up at Hufen's approach and grinned, "oh hi, dad!"
    "Hello, Hufen," the hunter's other daughter, Coorah smiled up at him as well.
    After a chorus of additional greetings from Tellras and Idrit, Hufen sat down and listened to the rest of their stories from that morning. He was fully immersed in the world of the young hunters when he heard a particularly loud, 'ahem!' from just behind him. He leaped to his paws and whirled around to see his alpha, Ataahua, standing there, one brow cocked.
    "Ataahua! So sorry, these young storytellers are... very captivating. What can I do for you?"
    The golden alpha's dubious expression melted into a smile, and she said, "walk with me. Come along. Not you, pups," and was met with a scowl from Thorn, the youngest which made both the alpha and Hufen chuckle.
    After walking a ways off into the spring grass the alpha faced Hufen. "I really should speak to you later when your mate returns, but I have so much to do today and I'll let you have the fun of breaking the news to her. I need a lead hunter. It's been quite some time since we've had one specifically chosen, and that unprecedented circumstance seems to have caused you and Orynne to take over the duties yourselves. Basically what I'm saying is keep doing what you're doing, except now you both have a title."
    Hufen blinked his yellow eyes at his alpha, taking in the new information with a growing smile. "Lead hunter? Both of us? We only took charge because it sort of fell into place with us being stalkers, but... If this is what you've decided, I'm ready for it!"
    Ataahua's own grin grew wider as the usually level Hufen talked himself through what she had just said. "No, actually it isn't what I've decided. I was lying the whole time," she shook her head as she began to walk back toward the hollow, "just keep being their leader. You'll be fine."
    Hufen gave a vigorous nod, turned around about five times trying to decide what to do first, then bolted off into the woods to track down his mate, probably interrupt her hunt and tell her the news.

-

    Hufen stretched out long, his claws scratching lightly on the sun warmed stone. He rested his head on Orynne's still-sleeping form for a moment, her dark fur warm under his chin. She stirred and he moved away gently so as not to wake her fully. That never went well, and he wanted to allow her to enjoy her peaceful moment.
    He leaped down from the stone, shaking his fur and heading off in the direction of Aleifr... which, really, could be anywhere. That wolf was always so busy and yet his list of things to do never seemed to get shorter. Hufen had taken to assisting the alpha with whatever was swamping him at any given moment, and it seemed to alleviate some of the stress.
    "Ah! Hufen! Will you explain to your daughter that squirrels don't fly, they glide!"
    Hufen blinked long and slow at his alpha. Was this really the pressing matter of the day that he had left his nap for? Both Aleifr and his mate— Hufen's daughter, Coorah— were staring at him now, awaiting his answer that would no doubt prove them right. The retired hunter rolled his eyes to the sky and said, "of course they fly, Aleifr, I've seen it with my very own eyes. Not all of them do, of course, but some of them have wings!"
    Aleifr's ears flattened to his head and he fixed Hufen with an equally flat look, grumbling about how they didn't even flap the wings, so how was it flying? Coorah just smiled and touched her nose to her father's cheek as she walked by, satisfied with winning that argument.
    Hufen smiled at his daughter, then sighed and fixed Aleifr with a questioning look. "Alright. Now that we've got that important dispute settled, what needs figuring out today?"

-

Name: Hufen [hee ven, 'cream']
Code: Isabel M G3 4m 512
Date of Birth:Late Summer, 11 WD (June 04, 2021)
Place of Birth:Pont-y-Rhedyn
Birth Stats: 512 (100/106/100/112/97)
Join Date: 6/26/21

Mother: Olwyn
Father: Silverback

ORIGINAL

PLAN

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