Laurel

The winter has been a dry one. Without a doubt, many of the pups will have struggled fruitlessly for their lives, clinging to their mothers for protection. The pupsitters have been laden with responsibilities, and most wolves have simply ignored this. 

You're with the pupsitters, aiding them, when you notice another friendly face among the crowd. She’s playing with some of the pups, doing her best to raise their spirits and keep them smiling. You think it’s honourable, sacrificing your evening like that for the pack’s young. You hurry over to congratulate her, but she insists it’s unnecessary. 

The pupsitters are preoccupied, so much so that they barely even notice the she-wolf’s presence. Even so, you do, and you appreciate every bone in her body for what she’s doing for Yukiyama. 

𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙔𝙪𝙠𝙞𝙮𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙙𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙤𝙙𝙖, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙮𝙨𝙨𝙖’𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙥𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩. 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣, 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚. 𝘼𝙨 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙩, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙖𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙. 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙖𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 - 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 - 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝. 𝙇𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙥𝙝𝙖, 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙘𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙥, 𝙊𝙥𝙖𝙡, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 (𝙊𝙥𝙖𝙡’𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙), 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡’𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙤𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙥 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙔𝙪𝙠𝙞𝙮𝙖𝙢𝙖. 𝘼𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙, 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙪𝙥.