☽ Wing ☾

    The little black-masked pup leaped into the river with a whoop, her little but already powerful legs paddling against the current. She giggled as the gentle waves splashed against her face, then looked over at her panicked brother who was pacing around, still on the bank. Wing just grinned at him and cocked her head in a come on in gesture.
    "Wiiiing! It's so choppy out there today, you're going to get swept downriver and we'll never see you again!" Peregrine called in a thin, worried whine.
    "It's- pfft! It's alright! How else am I going to get to be the strongest wolf in the- ptthhh! Pack!?" The she-pup howled back through the splashing.
    Now that a few minutes of this swimming around against the current had gone on, and it was quite a windy day, Wing did feel her small paws slowing down. She was flagging, and though she was smart enough to know it, she gritted her teeth and swam a few more strokes before giving in. Straining with the effort of keeping her short legs going, she slowly began making her way back to the riverbank where Peregrine was huddled with his paws over his nose.
    There was a moment she thought she would slip under the waves and be lost, but fortunately at that point she was close enough to shore for Peregrine to tromp in and yank her out by the scruff. The little tired she-pup's paws kept treading even after she and Peregrine collapsed in a heap on the pebbly riverbank.
    "Alright... there's... no swimming... for you... if I'm not here!" Poor winded and terrorized Peregrine wheezed at her.
    Wing just nodded as vigorously as she was able as exhausted as she was, her little paws still going as she huffed, "you've... got a deal."

—

    Wing followed her sister, glancing back at her brother every once in a while with a puzzled look. Neither she nor Peregrine knew where exactly they were following Wynandir to, but the older she-wolf had told them it was important when she had come to get them. They walked along the riverbank for quite a ways before Wynandir stopped and turned back toward them.
    "Here we are," she said, which was no less cryptic than their walk had been.
    Wing stared at their sister flatly, "and where is here, exactly?"
    "Your first hunt with a team. I'll be going along with you while Roshan goes along with the second team we've been putting together. Come, meet your new teammates."
    She led her wide-eyed, now excited pair of young siblings a little farther on where they saw a dark she-wolf and a blue-furred she-wolf standing by. Wing watched as Peregrine's eyebrows knitted together with apprehension. He would likely be quite tense about working with these two. Orynne was a lot to take for a laid-back wolf like him, and Nila was Hakaan's daughter and this made her quite snooty. The red-tinged wolf bumped his sister's shoulder gently with his own as they approached their new hunting teammates, and she shot him a sidelong glance mirroring his own concerned look. Silently she willed him to just give it a try. They would finally be hunters, and they could make this work! As they came to stand in front of the pair of she-wolves they adopted twin smiles, each resolving to work hard and make the best of this.
    "Right. Shall we get to work, then?" Peregrine said, ready to begin.

—

    Wing trotted into the hollow after her brother and all the younger wolves that their hunting team was now comprised of. Coorah gave her a respectful nod as she passed, and Anahera and Nikau just ran off whooping and howling to cause some mischief or other elsewhere. Wing just shook her head. Up until recently she had just gone about her usual daily life of hunting with Orynne, Nila and her brother, and the only young wolf they had to deal with was that lovely, happy little alpha's son Winnie. Now she had to wrangle Ataahua's young son and daughter who were an entire pawful on their own, her brother had been chosen as Aleifr's beta, and things were rapidly changing within the pack. Many of her old hunting party and the other more experienced hunters had become mentors for the pups and young of the pack, and only she and Peregrine remained to try and keep the younger hunters in line. She shook her head again, exchanged an overwhelmed glance with her brother, and trotted toward the higher-ups' den to give a bit of a report to Aleifr.
    "I know you want to be out there again, and these changes are a lot to take in, but we need-"
    "What we need is an alpha who knows what he's doing!"
    Wing was forced to back down the entrance tunnel again as an enraged Orynne stormed out into the hollow and toward the forest. The black-masked she-wolf looked incredulously at Aleifr. He looked very tired, and very helpless.
    "What on earth did you say to her? Why isn't Hufen here? Do you even know how talking to Orynne works? I'm sorry, Ale, just... Just give me a while with her and I'll sort it out. You go and find her mate, he'll know exactly what to say when she gets back!"
    Wing shook her head once again and plunged after the disgruntled former hunter. She wasn't as fast as Wing, having been a stalker, so the black-masked she-wolf had no trouble catching her up.
    "Orynne, hold on a minute, will you? Come and talk with me a while," Wing entreated, slowing down to match the dark she-wolf's pace.
    Orynne turned and looked at her with a curt expression, "I don't know that you've got anything to say that will make me feel better. You're still a hunter."
    "I am. But really, I think you'd hate it now." Orynne snorted derisively, but Wing carried on, "I have to herd young pups every day. Young pups who aren't obedient or eager to learn like the ones you're training, but young pups who are old enough to know exactly what they're doing and not need any guidance from any adults, thank you very much. You would absolutely hate working with Anahera. She knows what she wants to do, and even if you get her to agree to do what she should be doing, she just turns around and does the opposite anyway because that's what she wants. You should see it, really! You know... you know what it's like? It's like when you whipped us into shape, Per, Nila and me, and I know for a fact that you would absolutely hate to do that over again."
    Orynne had stopped to listen, and sat down now with a resigned thud and the faintest bit of a chuckle. She stared at the ground for a moment, then smiled up at Wing, "when on earth did we become friends?"
    Wing grinned and sat down beside her friend, giving her a playful nudge, "I think it's been longer than you'd ever like to admit. Now, we can sit here awhile if you'd like, but I've sent Ale to find Hufen so you all can talk properly with your loyal mediator. Why he still does it for you all the time is beyond me."
    Orynne sniffed disdainfully, but still smiled back at Wing appreciatively. They spent some time there, cooling the disgruntled dark she-wolf off with some reminiscing, then they headed back to the hollow with smiles on their faces, still telling stories when they arrived.

—

    Wing stood tall beside her eldest daughter, Zinnia, the two of them keeping an eye on the forest around the hollow like all of the other sentries. They had all been posted at intervals around the edges of the hollow to watch for danger to invade should their alpha be unsuccessful. Aleifr had gone to try and free the forest once and for all from the unnatural threats that had risen and claimed three of their wolves already. Wing glanced at her daughter, vowing not to let her disappear like her brother, Peregrine, had all those weeks ago.
    Zinnia gazed forward, her keen, pale eyes scanning the horizon for any signs of approaching danger. She bumped her mother affectionately with her shoulder, reassuring Wing with her resoluteness.
    Wing was about to say something when the sound of pawsteps thundering in their direction echoed out through the trees. The she-wolves growled and barked warnings to the other sentries who were obscured by the dense fog. Lights twinkled briefly out among the trees, then they blinked out and the fog dropped abruptly and dissipated entirely. Wing's eyes widened as the sky turned blue once more and the footsteps came closer.
    Suddenly a light-furred wolf streaked out of the trees and past Wing and Zinnia with a howl, and before they could give chase, Nila, who was supposed to be scouting the clearing where Caio was last seen came barreling past in pursuit. Wing shook her head, then turned back toward the trees, eyes straining to catch a glimpse of her brother following behind as well. To her relief and excitement Peregrine stepped out of the trees slowly, almost gingerly, and stood at the edge of the hollow, calling for Caio to come and help him. That was odd, Wing thought, but before she could approach her brother and ask him about his remark Thorn came streaking across the camp and knocked him straight over.
    Zinnia recovered from her shock and gave a chuckle, and Wing shook her head. She resolved to give her brother a moment with his mate before she went to speak with him herself. Instead she scanned the hollow for her son, Song, who was assigned to guard pups with some of the other untrained young wolves. He was right where he should be, herding unruly puppies in the center of the hollow. Upon seeing her whole family safe Wing felt like she could finally relax for the first time in weeks.

—

[Starting 556]
[610 Trained]