Thorn

    The little dark-furred pup trotted along after Orynne, hopeful that that morning they would begin her training. She looked over at her sister, Coorah, who had already been training a while and stuck out her tongue through a smile. Coorah smiled back at her, but she wasn't giving away any clues. Thorn sighed and trotted on. It would be fruitless to ask Orynne any questions since she had instructed them to come quietly and she was a rather temperamental wolf. If questions and giggles started flying around she'd march them right back home until they were ready to do it right.
    Thorn didn't see how Coorah could look at Orynne as their mother. Thorn's actual mother had been warm and soft and kind... as far as she could remember, anyway. Orynne was a bit cold and calculating, even if she did just want to see the sisters succeed. The dark pup eyed her silver sister with a sidelong glace. Of course, Coorah didn't remember her real parents at all, so for her it was easier. Shrugging away her musings, she continued on after Orynne until they reached a familiar sun-dappled clearing. The training hollow!

—

    Thorn walked with Zinnia into the hollow after a particularly difficult hunt. Her eye was swollen shut from a nasty gash on her brow that had been dripping into it, and Zinnia was walking with a limp. Behind them Raea and Winnie dragged the stag that had given them so much trouble. It had really been one thing after another out there: first, Zinnia had twisted her foot in a gopher hole tracking this thing at full speed; then, he had given the chasers a terrible time following him through thick forest so they were on their last reserves of energy trying to keep sight of him; finally, when Thorn had been able to catch up and corner him he had put up the worst fight she had ever seen, leaving her with scrapes and bruises all over.
    Now she and Zinnia supported each other as they made their way toward the gigantic petrified tree stump that was the herbalist's den for a bit of fixing up. Rasp caught up and tentatively supported Zinnia's other side. Thorn had never been at odds with him herself, but she knew most of the rest of the pack had always been wary of him. This show of kindness was just one in a series of nice surprises from him of late.
    "How is it feeling?" The former scout's namesake thin voice asked as Rasp's face poked up over Zinnia's ruff.
    "It's fine, I think it really looks worse than it is. Some of these other scrapes hurt more," Thorn tried a smile, but Rasp's grimace told her it wasn't pretty.
    As they reached the herbalist's monolith of a den Nicht hurried out with a clump of herbs sandwiched between her jaws. She began speaking before she even spat them out, "whh e mm ssthhs!? Ahem, where is my sister? Are you alright? What in the name of the stars happened out there!?"
    "Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. Check them! Stop touchin' me!" Rasp yelped as Nicht poked him with a paw. He shot a last glance over at Thorn who nodded, and then he was off.
    Zinnia slumped to the ground and Thorn recounted the story of their wayward hunt. She assured the worried healer that her sister was fine, and pointed out Raea who was just dropping their prey in the center of the hollow with the help of an exhausted Winnie. Nicht let out a ragged sigh of relief and sunk to the ground beside Zinnia, getting to work. Thorn just sat and waited her turn, knowing that getting Zinnia's leg straightened back out was the most important thing of the moment. Besides, she could use the rest before she was poked and prodded and poulticed all over anyway.

—

    Thorn passed her bit of the prey to Raea who gave her a knowing smile. The finisher shook her head with her own smile and pawed her friend's nose toward the hollow. The blue-furred she-wolf shot her one last eyebrow wiggle and frolicked off toward home. Thorn rolled her eyes. It wasn't as if this was some secret tryst, they just had back-to-back hunting shifts and right in between them was the only time they had to see each other. But Raea, being the fanciful wolf that she was, took every opportunity to tease her about it and try to imitate what she thought they must look like when they met.
    Now Thorn smiled as she trotted back out of the forest and down to the grassy riverbank. Standing there watching the current pull the water by was Peregrine. She made her way to him and he turned to smile at her. His gray eyes, framed by white and red fur shone in the sunlight and she smiled back.
    "What kept you so long?" The soft-spoken beta asked.
    "Raea, as usual. She thought I'd enjoy a preview of how our meeting would go. That wolf is trouble. She's got such a big heart, though," Thorn laughed, leaning into him.
    "She seems to be our biggest supporter, certainly," Peregrine chuckled as he touched his nose to Thorn's forehead.
    "Hey!" Thorn suddenly whirled around to face the muscle-bound hunter, "what do you say we go to Aleifr when you come home?"
    Peregrine was a little taken aback, "you think we should?"
    Thorn touched her nose to his with another smile, "I think we should."

—

    "Orynne, he's gone! There's no trace of him at all, I've been all over the woods, up the mountain, across the plains to the old hollow... I've even-" Thorn took a breath, and in a broken voice, "I've even been downriver, just in case. He's just not there."
    Orynne's face displayed an array of emotions all at once. Thorn could tell she was worried too, but there was also anger, disbelief, and confusion. "How could he have just disappeared? Wolves don't just disappear. I'm not willing to believe he left you or his position here but so help me if he did, I'll- Right. Not the point. Hufen would know what to do, where is he?"
    The dark-furred she-wolf shook her head as Orynne cast her gaze around to find her own mate. Thorn's eyelids heavy with fatigue from her searching, her muzzle stained with tears. She and Peregrine had only just been pair bonded, and now he was just gone. At first she had thought that maybe he was upset or overwhelmed and needed some space, but when his old scent trails faded and no new ones came up she began to fear the worst. She really had been everywhere searching for him, but there were no signs of him anywhere. Nothing at all. Aleifr was distraught as well at losing one of his best friends and losing his beta all at once. Thorn nuzzled her mother- 'huh, my mother'- and walked past her to go and find the alpha again.
    Aleifr was sitting outside his den looking very tired. Caio was lying nearby looking equally as tired. Neither was speaking and Thorn could see Nicht making her way back to her own den. She must have given them some news. Thorn made her way over to sit with the pair of exhausted higher-ups. She tried to smile at Ale who tried to smile back.
    "What did she say?" Thorn asked.
    "Nothing good. The fog is spreading, other packs have had more wolves disappear than ever," Aleifr sighed, casting his gaze to the floor again.
    "And Raea's gone moon-eyed. Nicht's keeping her in her den under a watch," Caio told her, looking to his tired alpha with an unreadable expression.
    Thorn sunk down further with a sigh. "What can we do? How can we fight something like this?"
    "We'll find them," Aleifr said in a stronger voice than before, "I'll keep meeting with the other packs and working out what's happening with Nicht. We'll find them."
    Thorn just nodded uncertainly, hoping that he was right.

—

    Thorn paced back and forth outside the herbalist's den alongside Rasp, the pair of them wearing twin ruts into the ground as the hours ticked by. She had agreed to accompany Rasp on guard duty for Raea as well as part of the watch for their missing wolves while Aleifr, Nicht and a couple of others went to put and end to all of this madness once and for all. The dark she-wolf was reserving her feelings for when the alpha and his party returned, but she couldn't help but be hopeful anyway. She shot a glance in Rasp's direction and the harrowed wolf gave a weak half-smile in return.
    "Raaaaasp! I want to go and chase the lights! Please let me go out and chase the lightssss!" The wail rose from inside the den once again and Rasp cringed, stopping in his tracks, pinning his ears to his head and tucking his tail between his legs.
    "Rasp, go. Fetch Idrit and take a walk," Thorn commanded in a voice that was compassionate but left no room for negotiation.
    "I... right," Rasp staggered off toward Idrit who was posted as one of the sentries around the edge of the hollow.
    The scout took one look at his brother and nodded, giving Rasp a nudge and heading in Thorn's direction to take up the guard. Rasp looked back over his shoulder and then stalked off toward the side of the hollow opposite to the herbalist's den.
    Thorn opened her mouth to address Idrit, but before she could the thick fog all around them fell abruptly to the ground and disappeared. Thorn's eyes widened, and she heard several of the sentries cry out as they noticed the change in weather. Even the gray of the sky faded and a cloudy blue day emerged for the first time in weeks. Suddenly more voices called out in alarm and Thorn heard the pounding of feet approaching.
    Idrit gave her a reassuring nudge and Thorn glanced at him with a small smile. When she turned back to face whatever was coming for them, though, she was taken aback. The whole sentry detail was shocked into silence as the familiar light pelt of Caio streaked through the hollow with Nila hot on his heels and barking obscenities and threats after him. Thorn didn't dare take her eyes off him for fear he may disappear again, and beside her Idrit was stammering out the beginnings of sentences, trying to get some coherent speech out but failing miserably.
    "Caio! Caio, just let her kill you already so you can come back here to guide me! I haven't walked these woods since I could see properly and I uff-!"
    Thorn's heart skipped a beat and she held her breath. She dared to glance in the direction of that familiar voice, then took off at a run on seeing her mate stumbling into the hollow. She called out to him to get his attention and then promptly tackled him, peppering him with questions and licking his face happily.
    "I- Thorn? Thorn, what the- I-" He laughed happily, "how am I supposed to- to answer all of these questions if you won't let me?!" He wasn't going to get anywhere with reason, however. There would be no persuading Thorn to let up for quite a while yet.

—

[Starting ~523]