☼ Nila ☼

Get some marking opacity changers?

    The small, blue-furred pup followed her brother up the bank to meet the enormous golden wolf. A couple times she looked back toward their mother who nodded encouragingly. With a gulp and a nervous smile she continued up the slope to sit next to her brother in front of their new alpha and father. The golden wolf wore a huge grin to complement his size as he welcomed them.
    "Welcome, pups. I'm Hakaan. Your mother told me so much about you on her last trip here. I'm glad to finally meet you," the alpha had a strong, clear voice that would garner the respect of the fiercest creatures, let alone two small pups.
    Nila and her brother fidgeted excitedly, their worries banished by their father's warm words. They followed his lead as he showed them around the hollow, where they would be sleeping, and where they would train with the older wolves. The two were chasing each other around the worn-down training clearing when a smaller, slighter version of Hakaan slipped into the clearing through some trees. She stopped and eyed the new pups playing and their mother standing at the edge of the clearing.
    "Who are these?" The golden she-wolf asked the alpha flatly.
    "These," Hakaan replied in a firm voice that belied the frequency at which he had to deal with the she-wolf's attitude, "are your siblings. And you're late for their first lesson with you."

—

    Nila trotted along next to her sister, regaling her with the tales of the day's hunt. She was currently going on about how she had improved upon one of Ataahua's moves on the fly to catch a deer with her team, and out of the corner of her eye she could see her sister's own eye twitch irritably. Just a few more moments, and... the golden alpha whirled to face her sister, barking sharply at her to shut up already and Nila grinned.
    "I'm just saying our teamwork is nothing short of legendary! You taught me the tricks and I'm perfecting them! Once Kauri is old enough to train he'll get the best of both, as, of course, I'll be training him," the blue-furred she-wolf puffed up her fur and held her head high with pride.
    Ataahua's eye twitched again and she let out an exasperated huff, "oh, absolutely! When would you like to start?" The alpha said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She shook her head with a sigh, "I will not entrust the training of my son to you and risk his inheriting your, ah, overconfidence. He will be training with Vift and Rionach who are much more... mellow."
    Nila recoiled with shock and indignation written all over her face. For a moment she was speechless which made Ataahua smile, then she narrowed her eyes and stalked away to find Daya. She would understand. Pushing her way through a returning hunting party, she stomped over to her other sister's usual sunning spot. The mottled silver-and-golden she-wolf was sprawled out, gently snoring, and, once Nila shrilled at her to wake up, rolling off of the rock, her fur bristling.
    "Our all-powerful alpha says I don't get to train Kauri after all! Who does she think she is to tell us— us!— what we don't get to do? I'm just as qualified as Rionach. She only got the job because she's Ataahua's best friend!"
    Daya listened to her sister's tirade as she virtually slithered back up onto the rock, eyes still closed, using as little energy as possible— or somehow even less. Once Nila had run out of words— or more likely breath— she patted the spot next to her.
    "Plant your tail right here and just breathe for a moment. Yes, Ataahua is a lot, but so are you. You're a great hunter, but you're not the alpha. Am I missing anything? You can still teach little nephew Kauri things outside of official lessons. He loves you, and so do we all, so just sit here and breathe," Daya muttered at her sulking sister.
    Nila sighed and scooched onto the rock next to Daya. Her sister may have been the laziest wolf in the pack, but she was wise for one her age. The pair ended up sitting there for most of the day, Daya returning to her gentle snoring and Nila begrudgingly enjoying the warmth of the sun on her fur and the quiet company of her sleeping sister.

—

    Nila shook her head at her brother in disbelief, "no, absolutely not! You are not siding with this ridiculous wolf over your own dear sister!"
    "I'm not, I promise! I just think that you're both great. Yes, and fast.. alright, yes, and strong! You know what? Actually that's perfect. Neither of you can beat me in strength, so you're both losers. There, all better." Aleifr, their dolt of a future leader and one of her favorite siblings said matter-of-factly.
    Caio burst out laughing with that easy smile of his that made Nila's paws feel like they were made of water. She kept from swooning, though, by the sheer power of her headstrong will and scoffed at him instead, "there's no way you're better than me. I won't have it."
    "Alright, alright. A tie, then?" The light wolf's tone was easy but his blue eyes seemed to implore her to concede. To give in to that ridiculous weak-pawed liking she secretly had for him.
    "I just-" she began indignantly again and Caio's hopeful face fell. "I... just..." she sighed, "think that's a fine idea"
    Aleifr's eyes widened and he grinned, slowly backing away to give his friend and his sister some space. Caio was gobsmacked, as if now that she had allowed him to gain some ground with her he wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. Nila rolled her eyes and shook her head.
    "Oh, you idiot," she chuckled, stepping forward and touching her nose to his briefly before whirling and trotting off with a smile. He only took a minute to snap out of it and catch up, looking sheepishly over at her about every five seconds to make sure she wasn't about to swipe him. 'This could be quite nice, actually,' she thought to herself as they made their way out of the hollow for a walk just the two of them.

—

    Nila snuggled back in next to Caio in their shared sleeping space with a huff. He looked up in the still-dark of the early morning with a questioning look. She was quiet for as long as she could manage, thinking about her two older adopted pups' latest evasion tactics before she broke.
    "They just don't like us," Nila's voice was quiet as she confided in her mate.
    Caio was silent for a moment before simply saying, "they're foundlings. They didn't choose to come here. It's nothing you did, they just need time."
    "You were a foundling, right dad?" A small voice piped up from behind the pair.
    Nila's ears pricked up and she smiled slightly as Rauros, who had actually accepted the pair as his parents, approached them.
    "I was," Caio began. "Come," he scooped the pup toward he and Nila, who had brightened up considerably at this appearance. "I was a foundling. The only difference was that I found the Redfeathers rather than them finding me. You see, I was hungry and their hunting party had food, so naturally..."
    As he spoke to young Rauros, Caio watched her. Nila smiled at him to assure him that she would be alright. She resolved to herself that as long as the three of them were happy she could deal with everything else. As the trio settled in for a cozy morning of storytelling she took to straightening up Rauros' fur and chatting along with her light-furred mate, correcting him each time he didn't embellish the parts with her in them enough. By the time the sun had risen fully the blue-furred she-wolf had returned to her cocky, smiling self.

—

    Rauros and Nila were sparring in the training clearing. He was big for a pup his age, and very agile, so Nila had taken to sparring one-on-one with him. It helped, too, that he was actually eager to learn and train with her, unlike her other two students. Thistle generally snuck away to join his friends in their training, and Kofo mostly just argued with the blue-furred she-wolf. Rauros liked Nila, though. He had begun to consider she and Caio as his parents, and he respected them greatly. Of course, he also considered Thistle and Kofo his siblings, but they had good days and bad days with that.
    After another hour of sparring, Nila backed off, panting. She grinned at her pupil, who returned it with his own cheesy grin. She laughed and Rauros smiled inwardly, too. He liked making her happy, especially since her temper made it so she wasn't always.
    "You've done well today. Every day, really. You'll be a good hunter and a good fighter I'm sure," Nila gave her report.
    "Thank you," Rauros stood taller with another grin, "I think I'm getting even better than you are!"
    "Oh, no you don't! The student can't surpass the master before he's even taller than her!" Nila growled playfully, sprang forward once more and bowled him over.
    The two talked for a while about all the things they had to do then, and how they ought to get back to their respective duties. Then they talked about some of the funny things Caio did, and how it was nice and sunny, and the sun hit perfectly where they were sitting and they ought not waste it. Eventually they gave in and spent the rest of the day sitting in the training clearing, enjoying each other's company and conversation.

—

    Nila gave a long, soft sigh as she sat on the cool, flat rock and watched the sun rise above the trees. She thought of her young Rauros out there having adventures in the world. He had been the last of her adopted pups to leave the pack, wanting to spend as much time as he could with his family before he left, but, as most young ones must, he had finally gone too. She caught his scent every once in a while around the hollow or even out on her hunts which were now few and far between. Nowadays she took to training the foundlings with the other retired hunters. It was difficult work wrangling all those eager young ones, but she found it much more rewarding than her previous attempts at actually parenting the little things. Plus, now she got to work with Caio every day where before they had been on separate hunting teams and only really saw each other between hunts.
    Now Caio was showing Fiadh and Alious how to step lightly so as not to be heard by little creatures underground. Nila turned back to the action and smiled to herself as she watched the little ones copy her mate's every movement. This was indeed much more fun than actually being in charge of rearing them.
    "Keep that tail down, there, Fiadh! Even though you're looking for prey underground you should keep your above-ground options open as well," Nila called to the young she-pup who grinned up at her and slunk even closer to the ground.
    Caio glanced up at her with a smile and quick nod of thanks and she settled herself back down on her perch to keep an eye on the pups' progress and nitpick anything that Caio missed.

—

    Nila stalked toward the clearing into which Caio's last scent trail led, scowling through her worry. Everything that had been happening lately; the fog, the disappearances, the strange lights, unseen creatures and whatever else was out there was culminating that night in a final fight that most wolves believed would set everything right. Nila didn't know what to think. Her nerves were frayed, her mind clouded with worry and sleep deprivation. To add to the ever-growing list of things to be concerned about was her brother's notion that he would go off and fight the invisible monsters that were terrorizing the forest. Just he and a gaggle of pupsitters, herbalists, elders and that ridiculous son of his who had slunk off after them as they left even though everyone told him not to.
    "He's going to get himself killed! Plain and simple. Those other packs had better bring actual fighters to compensate," she muttered as she made it to the center of the clearing and sat down to wait for whatever was supposed to happen.
    She waited for what felt like a half an hour, just sitting there and listening to the sounds of the haunted forest. After another half hour she got up to shake herself off and check back at the hollow to see if anything had happened there. She took a step, but then the air around her became thick and she had to shake her head to clear it. When she looked back up she froze, then stepped back. Was that... Caio?!
    "Nila! You're he-"
    Nila didn't wait for him to finish, she just sprang forward snarling, "you're dead, Caio! Dead!"

—

    Months had passed since the fog had dropped and the forest had returned to normal, and Nila was back at it giving lessons to the young wolves of the pack. This morning it was Elphirion and Falwen, Syndestar's daughters who were now almost grown. Nila had promised the Wise wolf that she would continue their training when she had gone, and the blue-furred she-wolf had come to very much enjoy teaching these she-pups. Elphirion was much like her mother; confident, friendly and ready for any lesson or challenge. Falwen was a bit colder, more calculating and exact. She had to learn every lesson to the point where she could get it right most of the time before she would move on. Nila appreciated a good student, and these pups were two very good students indeed.
    "Now, we're going to move on to the second part of this lesson. It will likely be the hardest lesson you both will have to learn, and it is to let yourself improvise sometimes. There will be situations where none of your lessons will apply, and you'll have no precedent for how to proceed. In those situations you must remain on your toes, and be able to..." Nila paused for dramatic effect, "think fast!"
    Just then, Caio burst out of the undergrowth at the edge of the clearing and rushed the two young she-wolves. They started and stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before springing into action. Elphirion tried leaping over the older wolf while Falwen attempted to use a deflection technique that was meant to be used on skittish prey animals. Needless to say, it did not go well. The three wolves ended up in a pile on the ground, and Nila stepped up and stood over them with a grin.
    "I told you it would be difficult, but here's how we can do better."

—

[Starting 531]