Aife

"Aife"
- Warrior

She came from the far lands. There was not really a need to move, but moving was better than staying still and rotting away in a single spot. It was through her endless wandering that she was also able to meet the black wolf.

Tala was it?

She could smell all sorts of wolves and animals on the black canine. Seems like she had helped many others before. And help she did. Aife was not looking to settle, not yet at least. But when looking around the vast mountains of the empty territory, she couldn't help but yearn to call it her own.

So she made it hers.

It was a long process, and one with many mistakes. Many wolves came and went. Some stayed, some left, others rejoined nature. But the journey was what counted.


One of the first wolves to join her little family was Aiden. It was quite a bit of an awkward affair. It was the first couple months within her new home. She had no desire of creating a pack quite yet, but that was when he noticed her. Aife had been exploring around the mountainous area when she spotted a black wolf in the distance. She yipped in greeting, thinking it was Tala. However, as she had gotten closer to the figure, it was definitely not her old friend. The black wolf's frame was large and menacing. The piercing yellow eyes bore into her own.

"May I help you?" She further shrunk into her form. It was not in her books to pick fights with larger animals. It wasn't worth it.

"Sorry, mistook you for someone else." She relayed before attempting to leave. The black wolf stepped in her way, effectively blocking her escape route.

"And who would that be?" The canine did not sound rude, per se, but it was still unnerving to speak with him.

"A friend, she comes by every now and then." Aife attempted to leave again, but the wolf bared his teeth in warning. They stood like that for several minutes. The supposed owner of the territory crouched low, and a stranger towering over.

He probably knows that I come by here quite often, my smell is everywhere.

"You don't seem like you know what you're doing."

Yeah, you can say that again.

"Or maybe have a death wish." Oh, did she say that out loud, whoops.

"Listen, I simply mistook you for someone else. My bad, alright? I'll leave you to whatever you were doing." The wolf stared at her for a moment longer.

"Don't you own this territory?" Of course he knew.

"Yes, and I don't see how that is any of your business." She snapped. It was getting dark, and Aife just wanted to sleep this ordeal off. The wolf's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. Smirking he lowered his head, finally on same level as hers.

"Alright, my bad. But as compensation I'd like something." The audacity of this mother fu-.

"Let me stay with you."

A moment of silence.

"What."

Aiden stuck around. Originally, Aife figured he'd kill her in her sleep or something along those lines. But instead, the black wolf simply did as he had asked, he stayed. At first, she thought him a wandering lone wolf. One that went from place to place to see all the sights. That's what she was until Tala suggested settling in. But he was far too good at certain things. And it showed itself in form of teamwork. His chasing abilities were incredible- and Tala agreed on it. Something else that was amazing was his personality. He hated the world.

"It is far too unkind." Was the only explanation he gave her. She didn't ask for more, happy to have someone to talk to, aside from herself.

Conan was the next to join, sort of. When Aiden saw Conan for the first time, invading their territory- he was merely passing, but the black wolf was not having a great day to begin with and refused to listen to reason- he all but nearly ripped the grey wolf apart. Out of guilt- and the goodness of Aife's heart, once again according to Aiden- they nursed Conan back to health and let him stay in their tiny den. And bless Conan's heart, he held no grudge.

"Can I stay with you instead? I don't really have a place to go." Aife could only stare at the wolf in front of her. Not only did they jump his ass in the middle of no where, but here he was asking his attackers to take him in. It was a weird sense of deja vu mixed with concern.

"Aife, I think he's a nutcase. You saved a nutcase's ass and I have no more part in this. Let me kill him now." Aife barked as she tried to stop Aiden from advancing further at Conan.

"Wait, wait! You bloodthirsty mongrel! You were no better!" Aiden finally backed away with a growl.

"I am not a mongrel. And if that gray fox does anything- even breathes wrong," The black wolf bares his teeth in warning at the new wolf. "I will snap your neck."

A sunshine he is.

Aiden has really helped her in the past couple of months though. Because he is older, he had more experience in hunting, exploring, and just the general knowledge of the area. Supposedly he was a part of another pack before something happened. The black canine still refuses to speak of what that is.

"I'm really sorry for the trouble we've caused you. Yes, you may stay as long as you'd like." Conan smiled brightly/

"Thank you!"

Honestly, he shouldn't have thanked her. Aiden was still being an ass to the grey wolf and Aife had run out of ways to scold her friend.

"He will bite you back, he's done it to me already. That's why I don't trust him." Aife could only sigh as she watched Conan fail to catch a duck by the lake yet again. He looked soft, almost like a puppy.

"How could that bite you? He can barely tell his left paw from his right one." Aiden scoffed.

"He's only cute when you're around. When I'm with him, its a nightmare." Conan turned around and Aife watched as his ears drooped with defeat. Shaking her head, she got up to go join the grey wolf.

"Aife." She turned back around to face her friend. He looked uncertain.

"Promise me that you'll be careful? I don't want to see you hurt." She briefly turned around and bumped her head under his.

"I'll be fine, you scaredy cat. It's not like I'm a puppy." That seemed to pacify the black wolf as he huffed and pushed her away.

"Look at him now. He could definitely rip my limbs off." Aife glanced back at Conan to find him glaring. His eyes dark with jealousy and his lips raised with aggression.

"Cute."

"Only you'd think that. Go, or he's gonna kill me in my sleep." Aiden almost sounded nervous.

A bear. There was a bear in their territory and there was only three of them. Aiden has always slept poorly, so when Aife caught wind of a foreign scent, she left the black wolf be. Conan slept like the dead as always, so waking him would mean that Aiden would wake up as well. Walking out of the den, she looked about. Where the den was situated was inside a cliff. The mountain oversaw a large lake right beside it. Lining the lake was a dense forest that was often hard to see at night because of the limited light. As the clouds passed and the moon came out of its hiding, she caught a spark of eyes.

A bear.

Barking loudly, she rushed to the border of the lake. Aiden was already quick on her tail, also howling up a storm. But that did not deter the large beast. Instead, it fully came out of its hiding place in the shadows. Not any bear, a grizzly.

Sh*t.

"Back away, its not going to lea-!" She was cut short, a well aimed claw was coming towards Conan that somehow ended up in front of them all. Rushing forward, she pushed the grey wolf out of the way, before pain exploded in her face. Disoriented, she attempted to get back and away from the enemy to regain her balance. Through her red vision she could see Conan and Aiden trying to keep the bear away from her. It was of no use.

"You need to leave! None of us will make it out of here, if you stay!" A loud growl registered.

"Like we're gonna leave you here!" Aiden roared as he aimed a snap at the bear's eye.

"That is not what family does to their leader!"

Leader? Since when was she one?

The bear was too much, even for the two of them. A shriek sounded as the bear hurled Aiden out of the way before smacking its large paw straight into Conan's flank.

They were all going to die.

No!

Yes, and that will be your fault, once more.

It wasn't my fault! I couldn't do anything!

And that is where you failed. You couldn't do anything. Because you can't do anything, your family will die and you will wander yet again.

It took days to get out of the stupor. When she did, months had passed since the incident. Everything was barren and dead. She left her home. She left her home where she grew up, lead, and destroyed her pack. What had it been? Neglect? Her pride? Herself? What had caused her family to fall apart in such a way?

Who cares. I just want to sleep.

Sleep came in fits, wakefulness came with daymares. Each step was a struggle to take. Further away from home, further away from her mistakes. But as the seasons dragged on, she soon forgot those mistakes. The scents no longer lingered, the nightmares were mere wisps of memory, steps taken lighter than before. She had nearly forgotten it all. Forgotten her mistakes.

You can never run far from your sins.

"Aiden, get up! Conan go!" She tried to yell at her friends, at her family to run. They stubbornly stood back up, ready to fight an impossible fight.

They will die, and that will be your fault-

That was when she heard it. Two harmonious howls pierced the night sky. Looking behind the large bear, two sets of eyes glowed in the dark. Before she could warn her friends, the eyes were already darting out of the darkness of the forest and towards them. But instead of harming Aiden and Conan, they aimed for the bear. With the four wolves working together, they quickly turned the tide to their advantage. And although the tinge at her side was painful, Aife got back up on her feet. Joining in, she growled as she tore away at the bear's neck, pulling and tearing which way. Soon enough, the bear toppled over and onto the ground.

Aife watched, adrenaline pumping through her veins and blurring her vision, and tried to check if the bear was still alive. One of the new wolves moved towards the bear, and effectively towards Aife and her family. Growling, she felt the hairs on her back raise in alarm. The wolf watched her with piercing blue eyes, before making its way over further to the bear. Sniffing at it, they looked back up at her.

"It's dead." Aife did not trust herself to be rational enough to converse. Huffing to the side, she heard a huff in return coming from Aiden. Walking over, the black wolf checked the bear as well before turning over and nodding towards Aife- confirming the blue eyed wolf's assessment. But now that Aife took notice, both of the wolves had ocean blue eyes.

Now that the common enemy had been slain, there was an awkward stand off between the two groups. Aife was still too high strung to make rational decisions, and the pain was finally starting to return to her side.

"Aife, go sleep it off." Aiden came back to her. Taking in her surroundings, it seemed that her friend had already negotiated with the new wolves to stay for the night. Conan was at her side, holding her up and practically buzzing with worry.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright. You all ok though?" She could feel that she would pass out soon and leaned further into Conan's hold on her.

"Yes, some scratches. Nothing that won't heal on its own. Now go rest. Conan, watch over her."

"Don't have to tell me twice," She heard off to her side as the grey wolf began to take small steps and leading Aife back to the den.

She did sleep it off, like Aiden told her. For 2 days straight. Apparently some infection had set in, but the four of the wolves, despite not being herbalists, were able to scour the area and find the needed herbs to mix some semblance of a medicine. Soon enough Aife was back up and about with a slight limp.

"I cannot thank you enough for everything that you have done thus far. And your names are?"

"I am Blu, this is my younger brother Blaze." Aife nodded in greeting, a brief bow that was returned by the others.

"Once again, thank you, Blu, Blaze. We might have not gotten out alive had you not intervened. Is there a way we could repay you?" The two looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"Is something the matter?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Is it your habit to give out favors like this?" It was Blaze that replied to her. He had an air of obnoxiousness to him.

"Blaze, mind your manners."

"What? She's the one that owns this entire mountain region territory, but still gives out favors like this just because we helped out a little!" Aife interrupted the two.

"Excuse me, but you did not just help a little. Like I said, had you not come at the time you did, we'd all be dead." She tried explaining.

"Would your friends not run?" Blu asked her in return, and Aife shook her head.

"That's what I told them to do. To run. You saw how that went." There was a moment of silence.

"There must be a reason as to why they would refuse to leave you behind then." Blu pondered aloud.

"Brother, are you really thinking of settling here? It isn't quite what you originally had in mind." Aife watched the two brothers converse.

"I understand, but this is more than we can ask for. The areas around are not safe."

It isn't exactly safe here either.

"Wait, are you saying that you wish to stay with us?" The two brothers direct their attention back to her.

"Yes. We have been wandering around for a while now. Mostly around the grasslands and forests. The packs there do not need additional members, and others are flat out aggressive. You appear to be our best choice." Blu relayed their reasoning.

Aife was beginning to get a sense of deja vu packed with guilt.

"We cannot offer a lot. On our own of three, we already struggle to make sure that the area is patrolled and there is enough food to feed us. I do not know how it will be possible for you to enjoy your time here." Blaze scoffed at the side, throwing his head up and looking down at her. Aife caught with the corner of her eye how Blu's ears flicked back in displeasure.

"Who said being in any pack is a fun time? You don't seem to understand that being a pack is not for a short time. A pack sticks together, as a family, for however long they can." The brightly colored wolf explained.

"Although I need to discipline my brother more on his behavior, I do agree with him. Being a pack means that you see through the good times and the hard times." Aife shook her head.

"My actions and mistakes have cost lives of the innocent, I cannot drag down anyone else." The two brothers studied her for a moment.

"Perhaps you weren't ready then. You must have been pushed too early to take over something like leading a pack. More over, you should not be guilty of the lives that were lost." Aife was about ready to snap back when a chuckle came from the entrance of the den. She watched as Aiden and Conan entered and the grey wolf made himself comfortable next to her.

"And here we thought you were talking about something important." Aife snapped and jumped up with her hackles raised.

"This is important! My mistakes have killed a whole pack over night! How can this not be important?!" She vaguely felt Conan attempting to calm her down, as he stuck his head under her chin, effectively pushing her back. Although he was the more amiable and kind one, he still had strength of a full grown male wolf.

"Don't get me wrong, sure it must have been important then, but it isn't now. I have heard of a pack a couple years back. Over 30 wolves found dead overnight. Some killed by illnesses, others by a fire and the drought that was there for several years." Conan had finally calmed her down enough for her to sit back down.

"But unlike your thoughts on it, no one in the area blamed the young wolf that was in charge of the pack at the time. You see, the previous leader had run the entire area dry. No prey could be hunted there, and the pack needed to be moved because the drought was not going to be ending soon. However, on an accident- or perhaps his own stupidity- he sent out the herbalist to forage for a couple of rare herbs. The herbalist never came back. From then on, illnesses spread like wild fire throughout the dens. Not wanting to deal with it, he left the job to you." Although she knew of this information- and the fact that her father had been a scum- it did not help in the least.

"Thank you for recounting all that. But I could have done more. There had been many wolves that were still healthy and eager enough to leave the area. I could have moved them at least."

"No you couldn't." To her surprise, it was Conan that spoke up.

"I had wandered through the area once. You wouldn't have been able to move the pack out. There were evidences of fire completely surrounding the area. Even the healthy wolves would have died from breathing in so much smoke." He looked down at her, his eyes sad.

"It's a miracle that you even made it out of there. How did you survive it?" Aife thought about it for a moment.

"When the last of the wolves that could- left, I stayed with the dying ones. The last one to pass was the pupsitter that used to watched over me. After that, I stayed in the den. I don't remember much of what happened during that time." Conan whined and rubbed his head against her shoulder.

"Nonetheless, more members means more power. Yes, there will be more mouths to feed, but that will mean that there is more of those that can hunt with us. Aife, I really think we should let them join." Aiden urged her.

"Yeah, you should. Don't forget, we took down a whole bear with you."

How am I supposed to watch over them? I'm not strong enough.

They will die just like your other family did.

...

"Alright, you can join. But I am not looking for anyone else that I must watch over."

She lied. She let another 6 wolves in. Even more so, 3 puppies were born within the first year that she was overseeing her new family. Yes, there were hiccups and bumps along the way. But as she looked down at her very first litter, she couldn't help but think that it was worth it.

"Yes, everything appears fine. The second hunting group returned with an elk. Kaneki has wandered into the west forest to gather the herbs you requested." The crow was perched on her back, as she walked around and greeting everyone. Each morning, she found it nice to walk around each den, greeting her friends and family as they began to get ready for the day.

"And Fiadh? I haven't seen that girl since last night." The crow was a friend she had found during one of the strange events that happened each month. When the moon was at its highest, and the night was the darkest, did the strange creatures appear. The crow- TBD- was one of the creatures she had stumbled upon. It quickly took interest in her and did not want to leave her side, no matter what she did.

"She returned early this morning. Apparently she scouted the near by area."

"Oh, that child is going to give me premature gray hairs. Notify Conan that he needs to lecture her again." The crow bowed briefly before taking off into the sky.

"One of your rascals giving you issues?" Aife smiled at her old friend.

"Yes, and I am quite convinced that it was your poor influence on her, Aiden." The black wolf came up to her, bumping against her playfully. The two of them have seen a lot these past couple years. New life join them, old lives return to earth, disasters and happy times.

"Ok now?" Aiden asked this from time to time. Aife smiled.

"Yeah. More than ok."

"Leader! Need your advice on this!" Aiden nodded his head towards the group.

"Go." Bowing her head, she got up.

"Alright, alright coming!"