N-WPA Rating: Natural
When Calico first arrived in the Land of Great Wolves, she was flea-bitten and ragged, tired down to her very bones. Barely a year old, she already experienced struggles most wolves would never face in their lifetimes.
She was born a loner. Whatever reason her mother had for raising pups on her own, she never found out. One by one, her three siblings died. Calico spent long days on her own, waiting in her den with a growling stomach until her mother returned exhausted from hunting. As she grew stronger, bigger, faster, her mother faded to nothing but ribs and lanky limbs. By the time Calico was six months old and the autumn rolled in, she was alone.
Hunting solo as a juvenile was no easy task. She wandered down the mountains, getting by on leftovers and rotting carcasses. She learned on the fly, forced to guess on how to stalk prey, how long to chase them for, how to approach for the killing blow. Every pack she ran across, she approached eagerly, desperately lonely and with no idea how to take care of herself. Every one chased her off, having no place for a lanky and motherless child.
When winter came, Calico was already weary. A number of injuries marred her, her pads blistered from traveling. With muted exhaustion, she fell into tailing a herd of elk, hoping to stalk them. Against all hope, the herd saved her life. As sick calves and aging does fell, she could feast on them. While other animals perished from lack of food, Calico pounced on them for nourishment.
And somehow, she survived.
Snow melted and spring arrived. Calico crested a mountain and looked down across the vast and splendid landscape awaiting her. She was tired--so, so tired--but she lived. She made it. When she made her way over the hills and into the forest by the river, she found she wasn't alone her. Another youth walked down the river, tired from the winter, and their eyes locked. Calico approached with caution, spurned so many times by so many packs.
It was Skald. He was young too, and alone. Against the odds, they met and found companionship. They banded together. Before long, another wolf joined, and another. So met the Blackwoods Pack. And so started Calico's leadership.
***
Having survived her terrible youth against all odds, Calico is a generous and loving queen. She has family, now, and a home to defend. Every morning she wakes up alive is a gift, and she's only too happy to enjoy it.
