Kallem

Pack Lore

    Quickly stepping through the brush, Kallem ran.  Once a test subject in a laboratory, now an escapee, he ran for his life and his freedom from the men that were gaining on him.  Panting, his breath steaming in the light of the moon, he desperately looked for somewhere to hide - somewhere to rest.  His vision began blurring slightly, and a sharp pain was starting to creep up his back leg, and into his spine.  He knew that he couldn't continue running forever, and the baying of the hounds behind him grew louder and more fierce as they discovered the growing scent of his trail.

    Struggling to hold on now, he pushed himself harder than ever, running blindly through the trees.  Pine needles stabbed his paws, and the pain he was feeling was breathtaking.  He had to stop.  He had to stop running.  He could no longer hear the baying of the hounds, nor the screaming of the men that were being dragged behind them.  However, he wasn't sure if it was due to losing them, or due to the ringing in his ears.  His back leg completely giving up, and his vision tunneling, he launched himself under a nearby fence and into a sunflower field, hoping that the large stalks would shield him from those who were coming to retrieve him and return him to the laboratory.  The ringing began to worsen, and his vision went black.

    Bright shiny objects, sharp also, digging into his skin.  Men speaking in hushed tones about his genetics, his pelt, his parents, their faces covered by some sort of clothing.  Shiny shield like objects covered their eyes, and they had mushroom coverings on their heads.  He yipped, the chain muzzle on his face keeping him from being loud or biting at the men - something he had tried to do before when he had first arrived here.  Growling and snarling were no use.  The men would laugh and grab him by the scruff, yelling in his face, then would return him back to his cage.  If the men were kind enough, they would feed him afterwards, but the men weren't kind to him at all.  He had escaped that night, after gnawing at his cage, his canines hit the lock just right and broke it.  The men scrambled, as when he was in his cage he was unmuzzled so that he could eat.  Kallem was angry.  He attacked anyone that stood in his way, using his nose to find the scent of the outside world - the scent to the front door.  Running, blood dripping from his muzzle, he made his way out into the night as the men gathered their hounds and hurried along behind him.

    When he awoke, the sun had gleamed down into his face in small rays of light.  His green eyes opened to the sight of a small, dead rabbit in front of him.  Confused, but extremely hungry, he stood.  Pain shot through his leg and into his back, and, startled, he yipped and snarled, turning his head quickly behind him.  A bright red feather-like object poked out of his skin, blood trickled from beneath it.  Whimpering, he reached back and pulled the feather object out with his teeth, yipping as pain shot through him.  He fell once more, hair bristling as he waited for the sting to die down.  When it was only a dull thump, he stood once more, not putting weight on his leg, and gratefully ate the rabbit.  He wasn't sure where it came from, but either way, it took the edge off of his hunger.

    Looking around at his surroundings, he realized how beautiful this field was.  He felt safe, and peaceful.  As his eyes skimmed the forest from where he emerged from the night before, he noticed another wolf, a female, watching him intensely.  Her yellow eyes never leaving from him.  He sniffed, smelling her, her scent drifting down in the direction of the breeze.  He tiredly wagged his tail, happy to see another wolf.

     She blinked at him, then began to make her way down towards him.  Excitement built up in Kallem's heart, his stomach filled with butterflies.  He had never seen a wolf so beautiful - or since he was a pup taken in by the laboratory.  She had stopped only a few inches away from him, sniffing him and looking him over.  Watching her, but also too tired to show her his excitement, he nuzzled her neck gently, hoping that she would accompany him and start a pack with him.  He wasn't sure where he was exactly, and he was far away from his original home, so why not make a home here with her together?

    She considered his offer for a few seconds, standing still as he nuzzled into her neck, taking his sight and his smell in.  Slowly, she nuzzled him back, agreeing to become his mate.  Thus, the Sunpaws Pack was formed.

    Kallem and his mate, Lemura, found a sheltered den deep within the Coniferous Forest.  Along side their territory, a large sunflower field tended by a nearby farmer.  A few houses laid scattered, but not enough to worry them.  Together, they built their pack, working hard to not be a threat or a nuisance to the people and the animals around them.

                                                                                                      🌻🌻🌻