Horizon

winter, year one

It was snowing and the moon was dark when Birch slunk into Adder's Draft, Tala's ears tucked close into the mane on her neck as she waited at the cave entrance. Noses left and right twitched wolves out of their slumber, some raising their heads, alert.

With him, Birch brought a soured version of his own scent, and one of his hindquarters was streaked with feces. His breathing was labored in ways that reminded Horizon of his injured pack mates that have returned to the den, their eyes still hardened from the hunt, darting around to assess everything in sight. He was tired, and had returned from his patrolling early. The draft from the snowstorm outside chilled Horizon deep beneath his fur, and he tucked closer into Oak's strong flank, eyes sleepily drooping as he felt his tail brush responsively against Horizon's back.

Birch did not speak, instead sweeping the reflections of his eyes across the den slowly, resting on each member of the pack.

Tired from scouting and blessed by puppy cuddles, Fern stirred later than most of the others. She yawned and shook with displeasure at the smell in the den, before realizing Birch had returned, appearing to be the source of it. She immediately rose, stepping over wolves to stalk closer and lower her head as she approached her companion with a small whine. He regarded her for a moment, looking back at Tala, who slowly shook her head and murmured something, but over the sound of the wind, Horizon's ears couldn't pick it up, though they tried.

Just as Horizon was considering putting his head on his paws, Birch softly growled out his name, followed by the words, "Come with me, please."

Horizon looked around at the other wolves briefly before rising and stretching, tail wagging anxiously and paws clawing forward inch by inch. He padded through the aisle between dogs and sat drowsily with a yawn before tilting his head. Before he could ask anything, Birch turned, stomach audibly protesting this decision, and braved the blizzard once more. Horizon stood once more and followed his leader.

--

Once outside the den, Tala happily nuzzled his muzzle, an encouragement on the breath of a huffed woof as they set off trotting together, the three of them.

"Where are we going?" he asked slowly, his voice curling in a cloud around his snout and disappearing around his ears with every breath. Birch's ears swiveled to listen in on how Tala interacted with the younger wolf.

"We're going to see the herbalist bear," she explained succinctly.

"What's a bear?" Horizon asked, having never explored very far outside of the den before. What he knew of hunting had been taught to him by another pack, through means of acorns and small game. Just as well, he entered adolescence when all of the bears were settling in their dens for their long sleep.

Around them, illuminated only by the snow and stars, the forest was an eerie and moaning place, clouds of snow kicked up by the wind. It was beautiful; it was devastating. Horizon's thoughts were cast back to the two young puppies in their den, the pads of his paws stinging.

Tala cast a glance forward at Birch's tail, which flicked in annoyance and agony while he shouldered the weather ahead. Horizon had never encountered illness before, but he knew there was something wrong with the wolf. "You'll see."

Would herbs help, Horizon wondered? They slowed as they approached the edge of a clearing, which gave way to an even worse pelting of frozen snow; Horizon looked up as much as he could without getting ice in his nose, squinting with gratitude at the cover of the forest.

"We're close to the Crossroads," barked Birch, looking over his shoulder at Tala, antsy. "I've only been once- I don't remember the way..."

She shook snow from her pelt and graciously took the lead, brushing her side along Birch's flank as she did so. He closed his eyes and swayed as he received the comfort, and as the wind shifted, his tail tucked while he struggled to contain his stomach. Poor Birch, thought Horizon.

"The bear is this way," Tala urged softly, but powerfully enough to be heard over the wind, treading more quietly now that they were moving out into the open, head on a swivel. Instinct told Horizon that they would only need to worry about preserving their stealth while they were traveling with the ill.

He wondered if the bear was a type of grove, or perhaps a special tree that grew a cure. He wondered why he had been selected to accompany their ill leader. Sure, his lineage had given him exceptional strength, but he greatly lacked experience; he was likely to catch game, but he was anxious at the thought of defending a small troupe against an attacker.

His anxiety didn't last long; soon they were under the cover of the trees again, and all three wolves paused to scan the dark clearing for movement.

In the snow, it should be easier to hear oncoming traffic, but given the ferocity of the wind, Horizon was hard pressed to hear anything past his own claws digging into the crunchy snow as they plodded on, and on. When the illness overwhelmed poor Birch and he needed to relieve himself, the wolves could hear the snow hissing as it melted under him.

"It won't be long now," Tala reassured Birch, and Horizon, who hadn't traveled this far since migrating from his previous pack in the fall was growing weary. He huffed and yawned anxiously again, wishing for the guiding light of even a crescent moon. Behind them, their tracks were quickly covered up; should anything happen to them and Horizon were alone, he would have great difficulty finding the clearing let alone his den. He knew being stranded in this weather meant the most certain death.

Horizon couldn't imagine how horrible it would be to have cold dung caked into your fur in this weather. His leader was strong, for sure...

---

After a short while, Horizon's nose, numb with the cold, caught draft of something sweet; almost as soon as he noticed it, it was gone. His ears perked and his head raised, paws hesitating as he surveyed the area in front of them. His pace quickened as he caught up to Tala, leaving their leader at the rear of the formation, unaware that this is how Birch preferred it anyway. "Do you smell that?"

She didn't respond directly, but she was focused. "It's here," she said, distracted in her search for a landmark tree poking out of the snow. She took a few steps, swiveled her head, took a few more, before her ears shot forward and she pointed, trotting beside a log and beneath an overhanging widow maker. Birch and Horizon followed, ducking with her beneath a snow covered shaggy bush.

There, beneath the shelter of a heavily overgrown heap of foliage covering an old, gnarled tree, there was the biggest wolf Horizon had ever seen, and he leapt backward, bristling involuntarily and puffing his tail up bigger than Birch had ever seen it.

"It's alright," Tala eased, nodding with a side eye at Horizon. "Come back inside before you freeze over," she urged. "This," she continued as the wolf raised its giant grizzled head, "is a bear." Horizon felt his nose getting wet again, not realizing how dry it had been whipped by the wind.

--

The storm is so terrible that Tala, Birch, and Horizon stay with the herbalist bear (named... named Herbert) overnight so that Birch can rest. When he's found his strength again, it's been two days.

The return home isn''t nearly as harrowing as their departure. Everyone is tired, groggy from sleeping where they didn't belong, but the snow has mostly melted, and thankfully there is none more falling. The sun is high and the steep banks of snow are actually melting a bit, icicles dripping from trees above, birds shaking their feathers in the warmth of the morning.


When Horizon steps into the clearing that makes up the entrance to Adder's Draft, he senses that something is wrong.

Construction efforts have halted, and the puppies are silent. Horizon thinks back to how cold it's been the last few nights, but there's something else. Something's off.

"Oak?" Horizon calls out for his mentor and sitter, ears flattening, tail tucking with a whine. There is no response. "Hello? Anyone?"

Bone sticks his head out of the den, sadly sweeping his eyes across the clearing and landing on Horizon. "They left as soon as the storm broke," he said softly. "Mullein and Thyme and their pups..." He trails off, and Horizon gets the sense that they aren't the only ones who left.

He tears into the den, looking around.

It's only Bone, Swan, Fern, Birch and Horizon now. What are they going to do for food? What are they going to do for anything? Horizon sits down. Still young, scared, and cold, he settles down into Bone's flank that night. Swan wants nothing to do with him (she's barely an adult herself and very full of shit), and Fern is completely broken hearted. She spends her nights sitting at the mouth of the cave, thinking about howling, thinking about Pine and Koi. She had gotten very attached to those pups.

spring, year one

It's been several moons and Horizon has matured very nicely. Herbert tells him that the universe can be seen in his eyes. When Horizon asks in turn what the universe is, Herbert tells him he's ready to start making his own medicines.

Every day, Birch checks on him, and every day, he finds him hard at work, watching and studying the old bear's gifted claws. Horizon deeply admires Herbert, who fights his own nature by taking stimulants to stay awake all winter in order to provide for the creatures who need his help, his guidance. Day by day more wolves trickle into the pack like before, and day by day Horizon finds himself able to release his earthly ties. If he were to die tomorrow, he would be at peace with it.

Every day he goes foraging, sometimes twice, sometimes three times. Sometimes a new wolf comes in with an illness, and sometimes he knows what they need. For the most part, Horizon is completely leaning on Herbert for knowledge and advice, and the old bear assures him it's a normal part of the process. Sometimes another pack's medicine wolf comes with an emergency and Herbert sagely helps.

Once, while Horizon is out foraging, he crosses paths with a comforting and familiar scent. Fern, he immediately recognizes, and he decides to follow it, picking flowers as he goes.

--

They're both tired and hungry, but they're tired and hungry together, and they can be as much quietly at one another's side. Fern can't rescout the forest Horizon is foraging every day, but sometimes Horizon will reach the bear's den and hear a playful howl not far away, and he knows Fern is waiting for him at the edge of the crossroads. He exchanges some pleasantries with Birch, receives his assignment, and happily trots off to meet her in search of some herbs.

Horizon can truthfully say that Fern was his best friend before she gave him her heat. Now, she's pregnant with his first litter, and she can't be around to visit him very often. Horizon knows that his duty binds him to forage and craft, but every night when the moon is high, he comes into the nursery cave to check on Fern, and nose at her belly. The other shewolf in the den regards him with more dignity than she did before, the newer arrivals admiring him from afar.

summer, year one

Birch brings home way too many puppies, including one Finch that Horizon cannot stand. He's honestly fearful for Fern's litter with this guy around.