Zira Akane

Story by BlizzardOfDeath #51723

Daiki watched her pack closely, there could be traitors hiding amongst them. How long would it take for one to fight her, like she fought her mentor? As Daiki became older, she became more and more suspicious. She never selected an heir, for fear Daiki would be subjected to the same terrible end as Maya. Zira was part of nesecary lineage to become alpha, making her the target of Daiki's vehemence. Several….accidents had occurred to her siblings already, and Zira was starting to get worried she would be targeted next. Daiki's rule had become more oppressive, making sure to crush any opposition with an iron paw. Deserters were caught and punished and the pack grew scared. Things got worse as Daiki allied herself with the merged, distancing herself from her own pack, and almost joining their forces. Some even speculated she herself was a cryptid. One day, Daiki brought horrid chupacabras right to the pack, using them as a body guard and sealing herself inside a den. From this point onwards there was no alpha, the pack was ruled by cryptids. Inside her den, Daiki learned from the cryptids dark arts. She wanted to be immortal, strong, never age, like her pathetic mentor. No, she would be alpha forever! She had to! So many wolves must be plotting to kill her, like she did! Why wouldn't they, they were all greedy, they all wanted to be alpha, didn't they?! Especially Zira, yes, that nasty bloodline was never good. She pushed away the part where she came from the same one. The chupacrabas would kill her, they killed all the others, after all. As she continued to use dark magic, her eyes took on a bloodied pale look, but she didn't mind. Very small price to pay for immortality. Well, not yet, but soon anyways. That's what those cryptids told her, just a little more puppy blood. Yes, and some fox ears. A tiny voice in the back of her mind questioned if the cryptids were telling her the truth, but she shouted back at it, of course they are! They're the only ones who helped her! Remember? They made her stronger, the let her see clearer. See which wolves were traitors! She had purged her pack, leaving only the most loyal. Or so she thought. Daiki still worried that the merged cryptids didn't kill everybody, and some had escaped, planning to kill her! Her, the alpha! Why were wolves so treacherous?! She would ask her bodyguards to search the entire forest! Yes, then she would be safe. Well, she still needed to be immortal. While Daiki continued her rapid descent into insanity, the real rulers of the pack were the merged cryptids. And they held no mercy for the wolves, ruthlessly terrorizing them, stealing all belongings, killing and eating wolves at will. Kira had to flee along with a few others, hiding as far away from the murderous cryptids as they could. The small group of barely four wolves had to think of a way to get rid of their pack's plight. Kira had the thought of employing the kinfolk cryptids, but even them were a bit hesitant to attack the sheer amount of merged cryptids feasting upon the pack of wolves. Kira was very worried, she had never been the strongest, the bravest, the smartest of her siblings. She was barely above average, how could she ever defeat those horrifying beasts, and then lead a pack? As a pup, she had counted on her older siblings becoming alpha. But now, she was the only one left. They didn't have much time, every day lost was another wolf's life in danger. Kira made diplomatic missions to the Kinfolk cryptids, gaining a significant reputation, completing favors and becoming quite well-known. With this, she managed to rally quite a few to her cause, directing them to the best of her ability to defeat the malicious oppressive merged cryptids. Kira felt she shouldn't have been trusted with the responsibility to plan the attack, she wasn't some seasoned general, she was barely out of adolescence! The plan was simple, too simple in Kira's eyes. She, the remaining wolves plus kinfolk cryptids would attack in the dead of night, surprising them. They had planned for a day predicted to have much fog, so that they're true numbers would be hard to see. Since they had significantly less allies to their cause, they would have to pretend they were a lot more. To start, they would attack from as many different angles as possible, to disorient them. Hopefully, many would flee and they could start the battle for real, ambushing sleeping cryptids. Kira was unsure how to kill Daiki, if she was even alive. Kira resolved to figure it out somehow, no one is unkillable after all. The day came, and Kira led these through the forest, shivering at the rotting smell emanating from the pack site. It was overrun by merged cryptids, their terrifying silhouettes loomed in front of them. Kira pushed onwards, spreading out her forces as they ambushed the unprepared enemy. Shrieks, roars, and howls broke the eerie silence as confused cryptids fled, the plan had worked!
Those who stayed were vanquished, much too Kira's delight. Maybe, just maybe, this would work. But there was still the problem of Daiki. The wolf had been woken up by the noise and was frantically drinking more of her potion. It would work, right? That's what the cryptids had said. She should be immortal! Did she feels strong? Did she feel anything?! Who had attacked her, she knew it! Those cryptids hadn't been careful enough! Daiki paced around her den, she didn't know that the very thing that killed her was what she thought would protect her. Kira took a deep breath and with the help of the kinfolk, collapsed Daiki's large den on top of her. The once-ruler of the pack was suffocated and crushed beneath the sheer mass of earth and rocks. A gravestone marks the spot now, a grave no one ever visits.