Akaru

Akaru shivers, sending ice crystals from his pelt to dance in the wind. Bones creak, and his sunken belly keens in hunger. He raises his muzzle to the night sky and draws a breath, trying desperately to filter in any kind of animal scent from the freezing, scentless air. He can sense no animals, neither predator or prey. He scans the barren tundra but there is no shelter or signs of life.

Despair threatens to overwhelm him. He was a young male wolf in his prime and he had prepared hard for his dispersal. Ambitions of high rank, perhaps even Alpha status had propelled him forward through the bitter cold but he had no idea how vast the tundra really was when he had first set out from the taiga where his birth pack had raised him. He had chosen the most difficult path and now he wondered who he was really trying to prove his bravery to. Parents that he would likely never see again? Or did he need to prove to himself his own bravery and grit?

He begins to run in the same direction he was heading, using the constellations of fighting wolves to guide him, but to where, he knows not. He could only keep going and hope that he could find shelter or food soon. His paws ache, but he ignores them. Death will not claim me, not tonight, he tells himself.

The wind is playing tricks on my eyes, he growls to himself later as what seems like a graceful white bird is spinning and swooping along the hard snow. Still, he follows it, for curiosity is the only thing to follow here. The bird does not seem to notice him, but now that he is closer, he can see that it is very much alive and not an illusion of the snow. What is most peculiar is its tail – a hundred white eyes glare at him even while the bird is in motion. Akaru does not know the name, but he is looking at an albino peacock, in a place so very far away from the jungle. He has no thoughts of sating his hunger, for a puppylike wonder has come over him. The bird seems to be allowing him to follow and shows no fear of the starving wolf.

Soon Akaru can see lights in the sky and soon after, trees up ahead, spread far beyond the limits of his vision. It is an enormous forest and he gratefully seeks the shelter of their leaves. He hardly has time to wonder how these trees are not dormant before his senses are assaulted with colors, frantic movement, and the lively sounds of healthy prey. He turns to the peacock to find the bird strutting to and fro along a fallen log, and Akaru gratefully touches the plumage with his nose. The bird allows him this gesture before suddenly flying off, and Akaru feels a slight pang at its absence. He lifts his head to the forest, for he now knows it to be enchanted. The wolf lifts his head to the night sky and howls, the wind giving wings to his song, but no wolves answer his call. The days pass, and although he has grown fat and somewhat lazy from abundant prey, he never stops trying to find other wolves.

Eventually a wolf answers his call, a beautiful dark female with bright, vibrant eyes that hold the full spectrum of the rainbow in her irises. Her name is Ebony, and she would become the first Alpha female of the Seekers of the Luminara tribe, a clan that sought the light and followed it to this enchanted forest. Together, Akaru and Ebony forged the clan's legacy…


Mate to Ebony
Hunting Party - The Polar Bears - A group made up of the largest wolves with the strongest jaws (Former Member)