Maya

It was another grueling day of pulling the sled through the frozen tundra. My breath misted before me as I pulled the load with my fellow dogs. The human urged us to go faster but we had been at it for hours and my limbs were trembling with overuse as they dug into the snow and ice. An hour later, we had arrived at another frozen river. The humans allowed us to rest while they tested the ice to see if it was safe to cross. My friends and I gratefully flopped into the snow, eating the thirst-quenching snowflakes. We didn't get to rest long as no more than 30 minutes later, I was back to pulling the sled. Unluckily, the layer of snow wasn't very thick as it was summer so the going was slow as we slipped on the treacherous ice below the snow. We had reached the middle of the river and I had just slipped for the 50th time when I heard it. Crack. I froze, my ears straining to hear it again. This had happened before, but it has been at the water's edge. We had been able to escape. My eyes widened as I saw a spiderweb emerging from below the sled. I pulled harder than I ever had. Not for the sled, not to avoid the whip, but for my life. The other dogs understood and pulled, but we were no match for merciless nature. I slid backwards a foot, my panicked eyes furtively looking for something, anything to survive. There was nothing but the ice, nothing at all. The humans behind me were yelling, screaming even as the sled broke through the ice. I dug my claws into the ice, straining with every inch of my body. It wasn't enough. I was being dragged backwards steadily, slowly, inevitably. I realized then that I couldn't survive like this and looked at my harness. I started chewing vigorously, my jaw working hard as I desperately tried to separate the fibers that were tying me to my death. A whine escaped my throat as the tough material resisted my efforts and I got ever closer to the gaping hole the sled had already fallen through. I had only chewed through three quarters when I felt my back paw touch the freezing, deadly water. I ripped apart the fibers, my head twisting and jerking at the resilient harness. My back paws were scrabbling at the edge of the ice, desperately trying to escape my fate. I saw another dog, a friend fall in. My eyes filled with tears but I couldn't stop now. I yelped with joy as the last thread snapped under my teeth and I bounded free of the restraints, trembling with effort. Then it hit me. I had escaped, but nobody else did. I watched in horror as one by one, my friends were dragged into the river. If they didn't escape from their harnesses, they would drown. Even if they did, they could die of hypothermia if they did get out. I collapsed on the ice, crying for my lost friends, crying for my predicament. I dragged myself onto the banks but I didn't know why. It was just my basest of instincts for I felt no reason to continue living when I had just lost everything I had known, everything I had cared for. I trekked slowly across the tundra, having no wounds other than in my heart. I was beginning to get hungry and I didn't know how to hunt having always been fed rations of dried, caloric food and never having been allowed out of my harness since I was a pup. But hunger is a good teacher and after spending a few more days with my ribs showing clearly through my bedraggled fur and skin, I caught my first prey. It wasn't anything to be proud of, but it was food. Specifically, a large rabbit. That night, I feasted and a glimmer of hope shone upon my previously barren future. Unknowingly, I had been making my way south and prey was starting to become less scarce. After a few more weeks of traveling, I was in the taiga and hunting mostly small critters for food. A new feeling had arisen in me, a joy at being wild, free, and alive. That glimmer of hope I had experienced several weeks ago had grown into a ray of light, shining down upon whatever might happen next. But my adventures were far from over, and as I continued south, a thought occurred to me. Why couldn't I have friends again? A dog is not happy without a pack. Maybe, just maybe, I could forge my own. I had become adept at hunting by now, and was able to hunt down large prey. Prey was plentiful in the luscious forests, greener than any half-frozen plant in the tundra. I was in the deciduous forests, I had never been so warm and my body welcomed the sunlight. It was here I decided to create my pack. I would be a strong leader. I would be a fair leader. I would be a kind leader. The loner wolves gladly rallied around me, and those who challenged me, met the strongest wolf they'd ever seen. For I had changed, the wildness curled up inside me had bloomed, and I was no longer a domestic dog. I was a wolf, fierce, independent, and free. And I was now the leader of a pack.


New Story by Jax #85247
She glanced around, blood dripping from her teeth. She was covered in it. You couldn't tell from the black in her coat, she figured that most would just think it was from her getting wet with water. A swim, possibly. Daiki knew that wasn't the case. She knew what she had done, and what it cost her. The pack? The pack would never know. They would believe her version of the story. Nobody would suspect the wolf with somnium eyes. Nobody would even think that it was her. Her who killed the leader. Her, who smiled as the queen, the leader, took their last breath. Who laughed as she won the fight that had covered her in another's blood. Nobody would know that part. They would know her story, the story of innocence, that cleared her of all suspicion. Nobody would know the murderous wolf who would lead them. It would be okay, Daiki told herself over and over. The 'attack' happened at night, with pups and adults alike sleeping. Nobody would have saw her crush down on Maya's throat, taking the throne for herself. The greed that overcame her that night, to be a leader. To be something that wasn't just an adolescent in training.
Lets start at the beginning of the murder. Alas, it was an eventful night, no wolf would have thought that it was the Queen's last night. That she would later be found in a pile of her own blood, another wolf's teeth had ripped out her throat. Daiki was smiling, walking around the pack, planning every move. She smiled as if she was enjoying the celebration around her. winter was over, and there was more food with spring coming. She laughed, and joked with her friends and family. She laughed with the Queen before she took her last breath. The story begins here. As every wolf celebrates the upcoming spring, and summer seasons. The seasons that were easiest for packs alike. It brought pups, and happiness. New life, and celebration that they had made it through the winter with little casualties.
"It's nice to see everyone laughing," Maya smiled, walking up beside her young trainee. "It's something I'd like to see after long, harsh months."
"It's something that we all like to see." Daiki replied, a smile forming on her snout. "It will do the pack good, to laugh, even as the winter was relatively easy." She nudged her mentor, seemingly lovingly from a far eye.
Young adolescents ran around their feet, nipping at each other playfully. Their eyes bright with life anew. Some had aged since Daiki had last seen them, growing twice their size easily. She would be busy with her mentor, learning the ways of the pack as she grew.
"Well, hello there little ones." Daiki laughed for a response to the playful pups. Her smile got brighter as they played around her feet.
"Daiki, come play!" One laughed, nudging her with their snout lightly. Testing her to see if she would react, playfully pounce on one of them. "Cmon, it'll be fun! I promise!"
"Alrighty then!" Daiki ran after one of the pups, playfully nipping at their tail before she swiped their foot out from under them lightly.
As the future Queen played with her subjects lightly, Maya looked to the moon. She knew her time had been coming for a while now, just never truly knew how. Maybe old age, or possibly a sickness would come through the pack. She had not yet told her young mentee, nor did she plan too. Daiki seemed so happy during these times, it made the mentor forget about her troubles deep in her mind. It was something that gave her peace, that silence, and just led the pack without any problems. They had gotten through this winter, luckily. But would Maya even make it to the next winter? What about the spring after that? She couldn't help but worry about it. Alas eventually it would be alright, though. The pack would be taken care of one way or another.
"What's- that?" Daiki stopped in the middle of her playing to spot something in the woods. She had said the alarming words under her breath- as if she was scared to say it too loud in front of the pups. Maya glanced at her, and tilted her head. "Excuse me, pups." She licked one of their foreheads, and wandered into the forest.
Maya followed the shewolf, wondering what she could've been up to. It wasn't often Daiki spotted something and she didn't. It was a full possibility that Daiki's senses fooled her. It seemed to happen to the best of wolves, just never really Daiki. A good possibility though. She carefully stepped, afraid her footfalls might make too much noise. Usually she could see Daiki's eyes in the darkness as they slightly glowed, standing out against the dark bark of the trees before then. These somnium eyes were nowhere to be found.