Radstorm - Elk

Radstorm is a member of the Scorched - and at present, possesses the most powerful recorded radiation field of any wolf in the Mojave. Radstorm was a rare case of a Scorched being born to two normal wolf parents – likely due to a recessive mutation, or some unknown environmental factors. Sadly, cases like these often end in tragedy.

The energy Radstorm emitted was so intense, other wolves could feel the effects of the radiation even before they were born. While her mother insisted on carrying her litter to term, she suffered severe health complications – and ended up passing shortly after her pups' birth. Radstorm was the only survivor.

Her father was unable to cope with the loss of his family, nor the pup's sickening aura – which had now weakened him so much, it had left him completely unable to hunt. But against the advice of the rest of his pack, he did not have it in his heart to kill the newborn pup himself. So instead, he took the pup, and left it by a small oasis out in the wasteland, in the hopes of giving them at least a chance of survival. ...Or, at the very least, so he wouldn't have to deal with the guilt of ending their life himself.

Thankfully, Radstorm's radioactive effects kept away most potential predators, who believed the pup to be seriously ill or diseased. Though the circling vultures soon lead Radstorm be found by an old coyote – who were in general much less affected by radiation than most other canids. Taking pity on the young pup, the coyote decided to bring Radstorm back to her clan, and nurse her back to health. Although she still had to be kept in a separate den, with the den mothers taking turns to nurse her, when one of them felt too ill to continue.

Despite the effects of her radiation, Radstorm herself appeared to be in perfect health. Although as she reached adolescence, she had felt her surrogate mother growing noticeably weaker. When Radstorm asked after her mother's health, old coyote insisted that she was already quite old, and had been sickly long before she ever found her. However, when her mother passed two months later, Radstorm could find nothing to blame but herself.

So she ran away from her adopted home, vowing to never again put other animal's lives at risk, just so she could be happy. She spent the rest of her adolescence and young adulthood completely on her own – mostly scavenging old carcasses, as she had left before learning how to hunt properly, and struggled to do so on her own.

But one day, everything changed.

. . .

Radstorm had been drinking at a watering hole, when she saw an oddly-colored wolf approach. As usually, she immediately surrendered it – backing several feet away, so the other wolf could drink without feeling ill.

But it was strange… rather than wincing or stumbling when approaching the watering hole, as most other wolves did in her presence, the other wolf hardly seemed bothered by her at all. He just casually flicked his tail in greeting, as one would for any other wolf.

Heart hammering, Radstorm watched as the strange wolf finished drinking. Briefly, their eyes met, and the stranger wagged his tail, and offered her a soft woof. For a minute, Radstorm's heart lifted… was it possible she found another wolf like her? But she shook her head, and quickly backed away, not wanting to do the stranger any harm.

However, a few days later, she ended up running into the same wolf again. And then again. It was strange… Radstorm had always purposefully gone to the watering hole at odd hours, so not to disturb any other animals. It was almost as though this wolf was purposefully seeking her out. Although she couldn't fathom the reason why.

It took several weeks before Radstorm would allow the stranger to cross the watering hole. But each time, she allowed him to get a little bit closer. They started talking, and she soon learned that the stranger's name was Rad Roach. She soon found herself getting excited to meet the other wolf at the watering hole. It was so long since she'd gotten to have an actual conversation with someone! Eventually, she even allowed him to lie with only a few feet between them, so they could talk to one another without shouting.

But one day, when Roach was preparing to leave – instead of just waving his tail goodbye as he usually had… he turned, and started walking closer to Radstorm.

For a moment, Radstorm was too frightened to move. Surely, any moment, he would drop to his stomach and start vomiting, or be forced to run away in pain, and never want to see her again. Radstorm squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable. But instead, the wolf simply touched his cold nose to hers.

It had been so long that Radstorm had been touched by another wolf, that it brought her to tears – which soon devolved into ugly sobs. She fell against Radstorm's chest, burying her face against his soft fur, drinking in his scent and warmth.

Soon after that, the two of them were inseparable – and became best friends, and later mates. Eventually, Rad Roach was even able to convince her to return with him to his pack to find the rest of the Scorched – a group made entirely of radioactive wolves, just like her.

. . .

Meeting the Scorched was the most exciting day in Radstorm's life – full of more nuzzles and nose-touches in one day than she'd ever gotten to experience in all the years before. Unfortunately, it did soon become apparently that Rad Roach seemed to be the only one completely to the effects of her radiation. She found if she stayed too long in the main dens, even the hardiest of Scorched started to nauseated and fatigued.

So Radstorm sequestered herself up on a high cliff overlooking the Scorched camp – so she could watch everything that was happening without putting her packmates in danger. Where once a day, she comes down off her cliff in order to share meals and visit with her packmates. Although she still refuses to stay overnight – no matter how much her packmates tried to coax and plead with her.

However, Rad Roach still joins her up on the overlook every night. Where the two of them sleep snuggled underneath the stars, so Radstorm never had to be alone again.

Spoiler

Thank you to Ageno for allowing me to being this beauty home.

Original