New Beginnings

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It is a cool night. The mist hugs the ground like a child clings to a favorite toy. Dew hangs from the trees, and shines on the ground. There are no clouds, and the moon shines bright and full. As the heavenly body gazes upon a forest, it sees a lone figure sitting forlornly in a clearing.

Shade is a three-year-old female wolf with silky reddish fur and feathery wings. The moon is the sole witness to her lonely vigil. She looks up at the beautiful night sky and sighs. Wings lie tucked to her back, folded neatly and primly. In the moonlight, they resemble nothing more than a pattern of her fur. She lifts her muzzle to the moon and lets out a sorrowful call to the night. It is filled with her loneliness and sorrow. She drops her head, then raises it, and lets out another mournful howl. This one is filled with a pure, deep longing for acceptance. She drops her muzzle and sighs again. She curls up on the ground, muzzle to tail, to wait. She doubts there will be a reply. There has not been for as long as she can remember. Well, at least not a friendly one. 

The last time she got a response, it had been a gang of loners. They had scoffed at her offers of friendship, and laughed at her attempts to convince them to start a pack. They had gotten tired of her whining, and surrounded her. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was being down on the ground. They were taking turns nipping at her and scratching her. 

The next morning, when she awoke, she had been covered in bruises and scratches. She had dragged herself to a nearby river, and lain in the shallows, exhausted. She figured that they had probably left when she had blacked out. Bullies like them only enjoyed it when their victims were whimpering and pleading for their lives to be spared.

When her aches had eased slightly, she got up and limped downstream. On the way, she managed to startle a fish and kill it. She ravenously ate it. She had had nothing to eat since the morning before. She somehow managed to make it through the next week without starving. When she had healed completely, she had left the terra, and arrived here.

From the night, a haunting call comes. Shade's ears perk up, and she is startled out of her reverie. She comes to her feet, and listens carefully to the call. It draws her, hypnotically almost, to the owner. There, in the moonlit plains bordering the forest, stands what seems to be an apparition at first. She blinks and shakes her head from side to side. No, it is a pure gray, winged male. 

Seeing her approach, he breaks off the eerie howl. He nods respectfully to acknowledge her presence. "Greetings, M'Lady. My name is Haze. May I ask yours?"

Shade freezes for a second, startled at the sudden appearance of another of her kind, then nods back. "Hello, Haze. My name is Shade." 

Haze pads across the moonlit plains. "Well Shade, would you care to travel with me?" 

Shade looks him over. He appears to be the same age as her. She thinks, then makes a quick decision. "I would be honored to travel with you."

They search around for a short time, and finally find a suitable grove of willows to rest in. It is well sheltered from the wind, and fallen leaves provide a soft bed. They curl up, muzzle to tail, and drift off into sleep. 

As night passes into morning, clouds come over the moon and stars. They build up steadily, growing thicker and darker. Then, about an hour after dawn, the clouds burst, and it starts to pour. Thick sheets of rain soak the ground in seconds.

Shade awakens a split second before the rain starts. Through her travels, she has learned to sense these things. She leaps, hitting Haze simultaneously with the rain. 

Haze bolts to his feet. "We need to find shelter." The wind tears his words away as the rain thrashes their bodies, whipping them mercilessly.

Shade nods her head, and moves to his side. She is new to the terra and says, "Do you know a good place?"

He ponders for a second, then nods. "There's a cave system, down this way." He motions for her to follow him. 

Shade nods and says, "Let's Go!" They start out. They struggle against the wind and lashing rain. They pad on all through that morning. The way is treacherous. They are blinded by the drenching rain. The wind grabs and pulls at their legs, causing them to waver and move unsteadily. The tempest is a monster, raging at them with all of its fury. Never has a storm like this been seen by their ancestors for generations back. 

Around noon, they reach the bank of a stream. The waters are roiling and boiling like a pot that has been left too long on the stove. To enter them would be folly. One would be dragged down by unseen hands to die alone deep in the darkness. 

Haze turns downstream, and they thread their way along the treacherously muddy bank, slipping and stumbling into sinkholes. It seems as if the earth is trying to swallow them whole. They pad next to each other, heads down, facing the wind head on. They round a corner and see the cave. 

All of a sudden, Shade disappears. Haze stops and looks around, panicked. He looks down and sees that she has sunk up to her neck in a sinkhole. 

Shade struggles to keep her head above the mud. She pushes forward through the quagmire, trying to reach firmer ground. She manages to get her front legs onto firmer ground. 

Haze leaps to the edge of the sinkhole, being careful not to fall in himself. He puts his paws over hers and shouts, "Hold on!" He cannot think of what to do.

Shade nods, struggling to get herself farther onto firmer ground, but not succeeding. She stops, feeling the edge start to soften under her. She tries to open her wings, but the mud is too thick and heavy. 

Suddenly, a brown wolf with wings appears beside Haze. He has a white star patch on his head, and he carries a stick in his muzzle. He thrusts it towards her, and she grabs it in her teeth. Haze clamps down on the stick also, and the two struggle to pull her to safety. They manage barely with the two of them pulling together. Then, just as her feet touch firmer earth, the ground where she was sinks from sight. "Hurry, let's get inside!" says the strange wolf, and they follow him to the cave. He leads them around the various sinkholes, big and small. 

As Shade pads the distance to the cave, the pounding rain rapidly washes the mud away. She puzzles over this stranger, wondering how he came to be there when they needed him most. When they reach the safety of the cave, they all shake off, then move deeper into the cave where it's dry. Shade's thoughts fly away as she stares at the impressive cave system. How could she have not noticed this giant in her explorations? It crouched, ominously, in the rain. But once one entered where it was warm and dry, it transformed, reminding one of a favorite den when one was young. She stared, speechless, at the immensity of it. She spied many side passages. Did they lead to other caves? As she pondered this, her mind was brought back to the stranger again. 

She looked at him, noting he was her age also. "Where did you come from?" she asked. "By the way, my name is Shade, and he," she nodded at Haze, "is Haze. Do you want to join our humble pack? For certainly there are enough caves here to hold many wolves."

"What you say is true. There is enough room here for fifty wolves, with caves enough for every wolf to have three apiece. I would love to join your pack. My name is Star. Nice to meet you. I was wandering, same as you, and sought this cave for shelter. I mean, who could miss it?" He then pauses a moment. "Of course, we cannot start out with an Alpha male, for Haze and I would surely disagree on who should be Alpha. Therefore, we must start out with an Alpha female." He nods to Shade, a slight smirk upon his muzzle.

Haze nods. "What he says is wise. I do not wish to fight with a new friend." He smiles and nods to Star. 

Shade sighs, "If that's the way it has to be, then I shall accept your offer." She then breaks into a grin. "Like I have much choice, with you two conspiring against me," she says in a dramatic voice. 

They all look at each other, then collapse helplessly into gales of laughter. Once they get themselves under control, they all pick out a small set of cave systems for their very own. They smile when they notice that their choices are next to each other. Then they bid each other good night and retire to a well deserved rest. 

Shade curls up in her cave and finds the floor surprisingly warm. She nuzzles down and thinks about everything that has happened today. She had not seen another friendly wolf for over a year. She had never seen another wolf with wings, and now, she had met two in one day. She had also been appointed Alpha female of a three member pack. She finally has a place of her own. 

Haze curls up with the same thoughts on his mind. He likes this nice female and this talkative, bubbly new male. He sighs contentedly. Yes, he would get along just fine here. He has found somewhere to belong. 

Star's thoughts tumble about in his head. He had met two new friends; he had also joined a pack. Admittedly, it is small, but it will grow, he knows it will. He smiles to himself. Especially with a beautiful and, he assumes, capable leader like Shade. Again and again, one phrase repeats itself in his mind: he has a pack.

All with their own thoughts, they drift off to sleep, remembering what has happened in the past, thinking about what is happening in the present, and wondering what might befall them in the future.

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