Cassidy

Cassidy, Cass, or Cassi

"I can be as good as him one day, you'll see. I'll make it happen. And then maybe she'll love me too."

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Cassidy was born to the late stud King, and her mother Remi. She spent little time around her biological father, who was often too busy hunting or directing trainings to spend time with his children. But she didn't mind, truly. After all, she had her mother and her adoptive father Thane.

At the time of her birth, Remi was still a hunter, and so she too would be gone for extensive amounts of time. But Thane, never Thane. Thane was always there to keep her company and to teach her ways to be an amazing hunter just like her mother. He coddled her so much, Cass could remember her Pupsitter complaining about not needing a job.

But it's not like her mom was completely amiss, because eventually, she stopped being a hunter. And when she joined the Scouts, she was around more. But Cassidy felt like she had lost a chance. Perhaps a chance to prove herself, or a chance to be closer to her mother, she wasn't sure, but she knew something had been lost. Remi had left just as she had joined, and they no longer saw each other as much as Remi promised.

But Cass focused on her training and her work. She focused on her skills and her team because that was what she could do. She could still prove to her father that she deserved to be beside him, that she too, could be a Night Hunter.

So, Cass worked hard. And she kept working. And at night, when she was restless, she would take long walks. Walks that, for whatever reason, reminded her of her mother. She would follow the moon and see where it took her. One day, it led her to a sunlit cave. The land around her was foreign, but the scents were not. She remembered this forest from when she had been young, too young to see vivid images, but old enough to remember the way the earth smelled and felt.

So she kept coming back. She would wander at night, sometimes even during the evening or day, and she would return to that cave. Sometimes she'd rest, let the rays shine through the openings above and warm or cool her coat, other times she'd practice her hunting or simply howl and roll around. Whatever she needed to do to let off steam or collect energy. Whatever felt right.

But one day, Cass scented something different. Something off about the cave. She could see prints in the rocky earth and could smell the scent of another wolf here - not that she should care, after all, this wasn't even within her territory. But somehow, she felt just slightly protective over this cave. It had become a second home. So she stayed and waited for that wolf to return. It didn't take long for the scent of another to catch her nose, and she stayed low to the ground, prepared to tackle the wolf when they entered.

What she wasn't expecting was a carefree and gentle female to strut in, her tail casually swishing behind her as she hummed a gentle tune. She didn't notice Cassidy until it was too late and she was already pinned to the ground. Cassidy had pounced on her side, turning them over until Cass was on top of the other wolf, pinning her. The wolf looked up at her not with anger, but rather fear and confusion. She tried to shrink away, tilting her chin down and lowering her ears in a submissive position. She did not, however, bare her throat.

Cass narrowed her eyes and broke away a little bit, not feeling threatened by the stranger. The wolf gently rolled over and took to her feet, but she made no move to run. Instead, she hovered over the ground, more like a mountain lion than a wolf. Cass found this strange. Clearly, the female noticed and straightened herself, before sitting on her haunches and woofing quietly, "Hello. I'm Nomia. You are?" Her voice came out as a soft purr, which only further bewildered Cass.

"What are you doing in this cave?" Cass ignored her question, instead choosing to interrogate her. Nomia's only reaction was a small huff, but she responded in kind, "I've been staying here for a couple of nights. Harmless, really. I'm just passing through. Why does it matter? Do you live here?" Nomia didn't seem aggressive at all in her questions, more curious. But somehow the questions bothered Cass, for unknown reasons. "This is my safe haven. I don't like having it intruded upon." Cass growled, feeling tense around this newcomer.

Nomia flattened her ears at the tone, but she did not move and she did not leave, which further angered and confused Cass. "Please, I'm not interested in a fight. I'm just passing through. I'll be gone in a few days time." Cass huffed angrily, "Don't you have a pack to return to? Why not go there instead?" This got Nomia's attention, and she turned away, her ears dropping further. "I have no pack." She whispered, barely audible. That caught something in Cass, something she had not considered. Something that hadn't hurt in a long time. Her ears straightened, as if finally aware of the situation and her anger dissipated. Now, she was left feeling confused, curious, and...sympathetic? This was not a feeling she was familiar with, but she followed it.

"Oh. Well...I suppose...you could stay here, for the time being. You said you won't be here long?" Cass said, almost seeming shy. She was never shy. Nomia seemed to perk up though, and her tail wagged a little on the floor. "Yes, I'll be gone once I get an idea of where I want to go." Cass supposed it wasn't fair to be protective of a place that wasn't hers, or her packs, so she reasoned it likewise wasn't fair to keep a lone wolf from staying there, at least until they could leave. "Well, then I suppose I'll...leave you to it. I'll be back in a couple of days; hopefully, you'll be gone by then." She muttered, prepared to turn and head home. She was a little disappointed at not having her peace and quiet, but she didn't want to interrupt whatever the female - Nomia - had going on.

Nomia clearly didn't agree because she bounded in front of Cass, all the trepidation from earlier clearly gone, and invited Cass to stay. "C'mon, it could be fun! I could tell you of where I've been, my travels, the wolves I've met - though most haven't been very nice - and you could maybe tell me about pack life..." The hope in Nomia's eyes betrayed her, and they broke Cass's hesitation. She huffed, looking anywhere but at the brown wolf in front of her as she shifted from paw to paw. She should go home. After all, Alpha Ibella wasn't too keen on outsiders, not after everything the pack had suffered. But something about the way Nomia's tail wagged gleefully behind her, and the way her eyes sparkled with mischief and mirth, made it impossible to say no.

Nomia howled happily and danced around Cass before settling in a shady part of the cave, clearly nodding for Cassidy to join her. Cass found, after hours of talking, that she didn't mind Nomia's company or the cheerful aura that seemed to follow the wolf. She learned quite a bit about the loner - that she'd been abandoned by her pack when she was little, that she had never lived in a pack (although she didn't specify how she'd been raised or by whom), that she liked water and flowers, that she liked the color green and that she liked nighttime the best because it wasn't so hot.

After properly introducing herself, Cass talked too, mainly about her father. About hunts and her pack life. She taught Nomia the different roles and the parts every wolf played, about the Gods that protected them, and about the recent incident that left her packmates scarred. Nomia took it all in, her eyes never once leaving Cass as she talked. It was comforting in a way, to feel like she was truly being listened to and heard. Only once did Nomia get up and move, sliding up next to Cass to lay in the moonlight that had started to cast through. She was rather breathtaking in the moonlight, Cass thought.

One day, when Cass was on her way back to the cave, she noticed that she could no longer smell Nomia. The scent that had previously wafted through the cave was faint now, and Cass felt her heart sting a little. She knew to expect it, but somehow, it still hurt. She went back to the cave, every night, but the scent only got staler. Until one time, it came back stronger. Cass was sitting in the middle of the cave, soaking in the sun on a day when hunts were scarce, and she scented something like honey and lemon. She turned just in time to see a brown wolf stalking into the room, tail swishing in the same manner that was so alike Nomia. Cass startled as the wolf howled a joyous cry and tumbled into her, laughing when she fell onto her back with Nomia on top, pinning her.

Nomia laughed, her purr-like voice so familiar, "Well, doesn't this scene look familiar?" She leaned down and licked Cass's muzzle, which only caused the latter to huff flustered, causing Nomia to laugh as she hopped off and let Cass stand. Cass only sat up, huffing as she licked her fur to clean it of dust. She wouldn't admit it, but she was happy to see the wolf, happy to hear her familiar voice. Nomia, she thought, could tell. She sidled up next to Cass and helped, gently licking between her ears and helping her comb out the earth particles clinging to her coat. "They kind of blend in, to be honest." Nomia laughed. Cass felt herself chuckling, but quickly tucked it away.

The two talked about where Nomia had gone, and she finally confessed why she had been there in the first place. "Actually, my family lives not far from here. In the Desert. But I come up here to relax and rest, and because I don't like the heat." Nomia had always been hesitant when discussing her family, but she admitted they weren't wolves. "Actually, they're cougars." She looked away, as if ashamed. The comment shocked Cass. Cougars? Raising a Wolf? How bizarre a thought, but she supposed it made sense. The way Nomia laid about sometimes, or seemed to purr rather than growl. It also explained why she wasn't as intimidated by growls and acts of aggression from wolves, because she'd always been raised by animals much bigger than them. She wasn't so easily intimidated.

"Do you mind if I stay here? Just for a while, at least." Nomia seemed shy when asking, which was so unlike her. Cass felt a sense of closeness she couldn't explain, and with a bit of boldness and tenderness flowing through her, she reached out and gently liked Nomia's chin, showing her consent. "You can stay as long as you like." She said, rubbing her head against Nomia's before settling on the ground. Nomia seemed at a loss for words, her ice eyes large and starry. Eventually, she laid down beside Cass, nuzzling into her side.

For the next few weeks, the two of them seemed inseparable. Cassidy told her father about her new companion, and she informed her best friend Calico about it too. Thane told the Alpha, who begrudgingly allowed the lone wolf to pass on Pack Lands. Although she couldn't hunt there, Nomia ensured them she had no intention of taking pack food. To her joy, Callie and Nomia got along just fine and the three of them would often hang out. Although, Nomia and Cass were still closer than any other pack member and they kept the secret, sunlit cave between themselves, agreeing it would stay their safe haven.


*side note for reader: I was not here during Matchmaker event and chose to make my own Nomia, so please keep that in mind (if anyone ever reads this lmao)