Allegra

Allegra is a curious little pup. 

She was raised in a big, powerful pack of wolves. 

She always knew her father was the pack's leader, though it was known he had many pups there and rarely acknowledged any of them as his own. They were not children, they were the pack's future. 

Her mother always raised her to be the best. The best hunter, the best herbalist, the best scout. She was to beat all the competition and become the next pack leader. She thought this was the way things worked. 

Her pack wasn't all just power-hungry wolves competing to take over the leadership, far from it. Anyone was free to have pups and families with anyone they chose, outside of the pack or inside it. Anyone was welcome to leave at any time, and anyone deemed trustworthy and hard-working enough was allowed to join. You can't build a big and powerful pack purely on fear. She just happened to be a daughter of the elite. 

She was still very young when her life suddenly changed. 

It started with friendship. It was a warm early summer's day when the leader and the elders decided to let a smaller pack join their own. They'd lost their home, they said, and so we better help them. The more the merrier! 

At first, Allegra was not happy about this. She liked her pack as it was. And besides, fewer wolves meant less competition, right? She walked around grumpily for a few days, refusing to talk to anyone. This isn't what she was here for! Who are these newcomers, coming in with their stomachs and teeth, eating all the food as if the place belonged to them!

Until on a foggy morning, she heard laughter. She knew it! The new kids were joining with the weaker kids from her pack! The ones who were never going to make it to the leadership positions! Her mother was right, she shouldn't waste her time on these losers. 

But on the hunt later that morning, she heard that same laughter. It seemed the new kids were joining their hunters? She was prepared to be slowed down, but. It appeared the new kids had some skill! And as she watched them over the next few days, the new kids seemed to be very knowledgeable indeed. And not only them, but their parents, too! She saw their herbalist teach their own how to make use of a plant she'd never even heard of before, and their pupsitters seemed to be the only ones who knew how to make sure the weaker pups survived, too. They were also good at learning, it seemed. They integrated with their hunting parties seamlessly in a matter of few days! Impressive, really. 

She was beginning to think her mother might have been wrong. 

So she went out and she played with the new kids. And then again, the next day. And again the next, and she went out and she played with them every day. She was starting to reconsider her whole life. Maybe her mother was wrong about more than just the new kids. Maybe her mother was wrong about everything. About what she was supposed to do with her life. Maybe leading wasn't the only option?

Until the fire happened. 

She woke up with lungs full of smoke. 

The heat was unbearable. 

At first, she couldn't find anyone. 

Later, she wished she hadn't. 

She found her mother first. Her body looked peaceful from afar, as if she was still sleeping. As Allegra crept closer, the horrible truth hit her. Like when you jump into a cold lake on a hot day and the cold seems to seep into your bones and your breath leaves your lungs, and you struggle to breathe again. For a few seconds, the pain was unbearable. Her mother's face looked peaceful, but the burn marks on her skin and the painful twist of her limbs told a different story. And the worst part was, Allegra knew this wasn't where her mother was supposed to be. Her cave was closer to the boarder, closer to the water. She could have gotten out. Only, she was running back to get her. She was running back to get Allegra to safety. 

She gathered herself and she ran. 

After a few days of wandering, she spotted a small pack of wolves near the river. She knew them! Only... It seemed like a pack of newcomers? But how come there was no one from her original pack? How come the only survivors she found so far were the newcomers?

She was riddled with grief and all she wanted was to be surrounded by familiar, warm faces, but she wasn't sure she could trust these newcomers. Not now, not when it looked like her original pack was gone and how do fires come to be, anyway?

She followed them for a few days, surviving off of the leftover bones they left behind. This gave her the illusion of comfort, even though she knew she was on her own. 

In the end, she saw them. Members of her former pack!

Only, wait... They don't seem to be in a friendly mood towards the newcomers. Are they blaming them for the fire? She knew it! or... can a wolf start a fire, anyway? She couldn't decide. Is she to stand between them and try to make them talk it out, or is she to join her original pack and kill these bastards for what they have (supposedly) done? Her heart couldn't catch up with her heart and by the time she'd made her decision, it was already too late. 

Allegra has seen many fights between wolves. But none like this. She's seen unfair fights, and she's seen fights for power, but she's never seen two groups so scared and lost and grieving baring teeth and biting necks just to blame Someone, Something for the tragedy that had befallen them all. She saw grown wolves bite pups' spines like it was nothing. 

She couldn't do this. 

So she ran and she ran, and she vowed never to join a pack ever again. She didn't need the unfair expectation her mother had put on her, or the confusing tragedy she'd experienced after the fire. 

And she was alone, for a while. Until she couldn't take the cold, lonely nights anymore. 

So she wandered and she found a dog, who led her to a dwarf, who led her to a wolf. And Gentlesock fed her, and hunted with her, and healed her, until she was ready to meet the others. 

And when she did, she thought she saw a familiar face. One of the newcomers, she thought. 

And she was glad for it. 

Allegra is currently residing in Cushion home, alongside other scouts, herbalists, pupsitters, and pups.