Thrumuraugu Wolves [ Pack Lore ] || Please read only, no posting!

This thread will be used as a place to post stories or any other lore-related information about my wolves! Please don't comment or post here, I'll link to a thread where we can chat about pack lore, but I would love to try and keep this thread tidy for the purpose of writing. 

Pack Lore (you are here) || Lore Chat || Pack Dynasty

Awakened Storm

Thunder clapped harshly above, and he awoke with a start. It wasn't from fear of the noise, or even shock at its loud suddenness, but it was the sort of jolt one gets when they wake up from a dream they didn't realize they'd even fallen asleep to partake in. 

Glancing up, nose to the dark gray sky, the wolf pricks his ears forward, listening. 

The storm rumbles along like a discontented beast, as if to chastise him for sleeping for so long. There is no rain from the blackened heavens just yet, but he can smell the oncoming wet in the air. Snorting, the wolf stands and gives himself a quick shake to rustle any loose dirt from his fur. The Ancestors were telling him to get a move on, so, clearly, there was something good to be had tonight.

He could recall the first day he woke, but if there was anything before that, it had been lost to him. The wolf didn't know if it was because that was simply how he came into the world -- though, this hardly seemed correct, as he had seen plenty of young animals as he traveled -- or if some sort of injury had caused him to forget his past. It mattered little now, as he could not bring forth any recollection beyond his own instincts to survive. He knew how to walk and run, how to breathe and scent a prey trail, how to stalk and kill. But a home, a family, a name that others might have called him? Nothing. 

There had been a storm on that day, too. Having no memories and being in an unfamiliar place, it would stand to reason that dark clouds and roaring thunder might scare a lesser creature that was out of its wits. 

But not him.

No, the harsh winds and booming sounds were a strange comfort to him as he tried to understand where he was and why. The wind had pushed him on and guided him, and the thunder lit up his path and struck bravery into his heart. The storm had felt like family to him on that day, and since then, he had always welcomed and treated the howling winds and crashing thunder as such. He had no one else to give him a name, so he gifted one to himself: Thunder Heart, in honor of the Ancestors that must have been with him in every storm that rolled across the land he walked.

The wolf smiled fondly to himself at the precious memory, movements tightening up a bit at the smell of an unknown wolf. He stopped, tail held stiffly horizontal to his spine; this other wolf had yet to reveal itself as friend or foe, but being on his own, it paid to be cautious and put up a strong front. 

A pure black wolf slipped out from amongst the trees, her golden brown eyes shining in the semi-dark. She approached friendly enough for him to relax his guard, but she carried an authoritative air that could not be denied, and Thunder Heart showed her the deserving respect as the younger and less experienced between the two of them. The female called herself Tala, and seeing that he was alone, explained that she was something of a guide to the new, young wolves she came across. As he had no pack, and no memories of any such family that had taught him much, Tala took it upon herself to show him how to live in the lands the young wolf now found himself.

She taught him how to hunt better prey than the small things he'd been catching on his own. She showed him how to create a den for himself, a home to claim as his own. She even aided him in finding another young wolf in need of a pack, and this is how Thunder Heart met his mate, Cloud Heart. 

She smelled so sweet and fresh, like she'd spent the day rolling in wildflowers. Her eyes were a striking yellow, and her fur looked like falling snow. At first he had thought her delicate, but upon speaking, that idea had quickly been shattered when Cloud Heart's domineering confidence busted through. Though they were the same age, she spoke so bombastically that he could believe she'd be able to flourish out here all on her own if she desired it. He wasn't insecure in his own survivability, but he was aware that he was young, and that experience came with age.

"You can be as old as the hills," Cloud Heart laughed, play bowing at him a moment before she tackled him to the ground, "But experience comes with the will to try new things and take risks."

"Those risks might not always pay off," he'd pointed out with a huff, the air knocked from his lungs as they both fell to the ground. She was grinning at him, all playful spark and uninhibited flirting. Teeth gleamed in the faint light of the moon, just now eking out from the shadow of the dissipating storm, but there was no bite or snap of teeth, just a teasing lick to the side of his muzzle. 

"And that's where you get experience. If everything works out all the time, then what do you truly learn?"

The Ancestors had been right, as they always were; this had been worth waking up to find.

Save a Life, Spare a Life

He had been the eldest wolf in the pack when he came to the mountains with Thunder Heart, having reached his third year sometime in the spring. This pack was clearly newly formed, full of young wolves who had likely just recently struck out on their own from their birth-packs. While the alpha female was denned up with the pack's first pups, the rest were relegated to hunting; the leader would explore with the scout, finding anything of use or value to bring back to the pack. 

Being the eldest, the dark-furred wolf felt it was his job to help bring in food for the young mother and her frisky pups. Keen Claw, as he had been dubbed upon entering the pack, had been on his own for longer, and so had more experience in hunting. Honey was already comfortable in her role as a stalker, and another sandy colored male that had been recruited around the same time as himself agreed to take on the position of chaser -- that left Keen to handle the killing blow of any prey they hunted.

As often as he had killed in order to feed himself and survive, Keen wasn't the sort of wolf who enjoyed the act of hunting and killing another animal. The three hunters had some successes, but it quickly became clear that Keen would hesitate at vital moments, letting some of their prey escape. While his fellow hunters never got down on him for it, he could tell that the failures were starting to draw Thunder Heart's irritation. However, after another hunt returned home with nothing but scratches to show for it, Keen went to report to the young Alpha. To his surprise, the black and white wolf was despondent with some sort of sickness. Not wanting to bother the ill wolf with another failed hunt report, Keen instead asked if there was anything he could do to help Thunder Heart feel better. Looking much like a miserable pup, the lead wolf asked if Keen would travel with him to the Crossroads -- a place where all skin changers came to do business or learn of important news. Keen agreed, wanting to do something to make up for all his guilt-led misses out on hunts.

As the two wolves plodded along down the mountain pass and into the lower regions, stopping frequently for rest or water, they eventually reached the Crossroads. It wasn't somewhere Keen had been very often while on his own, but it seemed Thunder Heart stopped by quiet frequently as a pack leader. As his alpha slipped off when he spotted a dark, female wolf in the bustle of the area, Keen was left on his own to wander until he was called back. He briefly glanced over the wares of the raccoon, avoided the beady gaze of the snake, and mingled with some of the friendlier wolves that were passing through.

Eventually he reached the shade of a gnarled tree, an old bear adorned with beads and feathers sitting beneath it; the heavy, bitter scents of many different herbs wafted to his curious nose. Keen was intrigued. He had heard of herbalists before, but had never really paid much attention to any talk of them. The bear moved slow and sure, his rough but calm voice grumbling softly about what he was doing -- though the bear never once looked his way, or even twitched an ear in his direction, so for all the wolf knew, the big animal was simply muttering to himself. Seeing as he had no actual task to accomplish right now, Keen sat down to watch the bear work with his herbs and his stones.

It felt like hours that he watched in silence, blue eyes eagerly taking in whatever information he could. But, after some time, Thunder Heart padded up to his spot by the bear, nose wrinkling a bit at the strong smell of herbs.

"Tala has advised me to have the bear teach one of our wolves the ways of the herbalist," came the tired voice of his Alpha, the younger wolf glancing at him with an inscrutable expression, "Do you know of anyone in the hunting party that would be willing to take up the role? I'd have to go searching for someone to join us, if not..."

Obviously, with how drained from his sickness he was feeling, Keen could safely assume that this wasn't what Thunder Heart would prefer to do, though he had no doubts that their young leader would do what he had to for the good of their pack.

Eyes shifting back to the old brown bear once more, Keen thought back on all the terrible memories he had of hunting down animals. The fight for breath as he put on more speed to take over for Sandy, the panicked beat of his heart when he cornered their prey and the taste of blood in his mouth when he forced himself to do what he must. But, now...fate had offered him another way to care for his fellow packmates...

"I will do this, for the good of the pack."

And for the good of my heart.

A new name he carried, now free of the guilt of taking innocent lives just to survive.

Moving on

"Oh, come on, stop looking so glum!"

Dapple rolled her eyes, curling up closer in her sleeping spot in order to bury her nose under her tail. 

There was nothing to be happy about today! Sure, she was going to earn her pack role and name today, but she'd also been sick for two straight days and her sister was leaving! Leaving! Could you believe that?! Did growing up together mean nothing to her? Did...being sisters not mean anything?

So, no, Dapple had no intention of being anything but gloomy and depressing today. 

Her sister padded over with a knowing sigh, pawing away Dapple's tail in order to give her a playful lick from the tip of her nose to the spot between her eyes. Dapple shrieked at the warm, wet sensation, popping up from her spot to chase after her laughing littermate. 

"That's so gross! Ugh, your breath smells like squirrel!" Dapple yapped after her sister, teeth bared in annoyance as she nipped at the hairs of her target's tail. Her sister simply laughed and laughed, running the both of them up and down the winding mountain paths they'd known since they were old enough to walk.

Eventually, they ended up at the cliffs that the pack often used for howls; the pair were breathless and panting, but it was a good, nostalgic kind of tired. 

This would likely be the last time they chased each other's tails like carefree pups under the watchful gaze of their mother. Their mother was already close to bearing her second litter of puppies, and while Dapple had chosen to stay with the pack, her sister was going off to explore the lands outside of their territory all on her own. It shouldn't have been a surprise at all, really; their mother had done the same, and the two of them were so much alike. If it weren't for her fur, Dapple would think she wasn't actually related to any of her family. Her sister and mother were so exuberant and full of themselves, and her father was all business. 

She felt so out of place, and now, everything was shifting around her even more. New wolves joining the pack, new puppies on the way, and...no sister to fall back on when she needed to whine and complain.

"...Why can't you stay...?" Dapple asked in a quiet voice, tail curled close to her body as she kept her gaze averted to the sunrise cresting over the highest peak on their mountain range. She felt more than saw her sister inch closer to her, the familiar weight of her littermate settling against her side.

"I want to see what else is out there, Dap. Besides, I'm not so sure pack life is meant for me. I need to figure out what's the best for me," her sister replied, following Dapple's gaze to the rising sun. "What works for me, might not work for everyone else, so...I have to go out and find it."

Dapple huffed at the answer, eyes narrowing. "Well, if you're all about you, it's no wonder pack life doesn't suit you," she bit out, guilt immediately biting into her insides as the words slipped out. She felt her sister go still and tense, and then the warm weight was gone, followed by the dull click of claws against the rocky earth.

"...I hope we'll get to see each other around, Dapple. Maybe come with Father to the Crossroads every now and then?"

Dapple kept her mouth shut, teeth gritting close and hard enough together to creak in her skull.

There was a soft sigh from behind her, halting steps moving away before, "Hey, little sis...Congrats on joining the Hunters. I know you'll do great."

That was the last thing Dapple Claw heard from her sister.

The Sun Follows 

For as long as he could remember, he'd always been out on his own with the sun at his back. Pack life had never been alluring to him, or to his mother.

She'd met his father later in both their lives; it was no great romance, just the primal urges of nature that fueled how the world worked. He wanted to claim a female and sire pups before he got too old, she was willing to humor him in exchange for a hunting partner during the colder months. She gave birth to the pups with little issue, but some were weak and sickly due to her age. In the following year, Sun was the only one left. He never got to know his brothers or sisters very well, and so tears shed over their passing were few and mostly designated to when he was still a pup. He knew little of his sire as well. The old male had lashed out at his mother for supposedly "letting" the other pups in the litter die. She was quick to put him in his place, nearly choking the life out of the male with an experienced grip of sharp teeth on his soft neck.

Sun and his mother had wandered alone after that. It suited both of them just fine. They had each other, and as Sun grew and got older, he learned from the best in her -- stalking, hunting, how to best avoid the more dangerous packs that roamed the lands and which were more lenient. Of course, eventually, it was just him; his mother wasn't young when she had him, and one could only outrun old age for so long.

But, though he was far closer with her than he had been his siblings, there wasn't really a sadness to her death. She'd lived long and hard, she had no regrets. There was nothing to be sad about, at least in his eyes.

So, he lived on his own for several years, his skills and charm seeing him through with only a few close calls. He ran into several wolves who attempted to convince him to join their packs; some were friendly, others smooth and many more were overly aggressive. Sun paid them all little heed. He was a pack of one, confident and sure, and unless he found someone that truly mattered to him, he didn't foresee joining up with any pack anytime soon. 

And then, a storm rolled in.

It was in the woods that they met the first time. Sun had been chattering on with one of the local birds, getting some good information on what was going on in the area since his last run through. As the bird twittered on about this and that, Sun noticed the smell of rain on the wind, mixed with--

Wolf.

A black and white male trotted by, blue eyes hardly sparring the sunlight colored wolf a glance as he continued on through the brush. Sun wasn't used to being utterly ignored once discovered -- and, certainly, if this wolf had territory in the forests, he would have been more assertive in letting Sun know -- so his curiosity was piqued by this younger wolf. Quickly concluding his business with the bird, Sun tailed the other wolf, following the scent of oncoming storms.

"Why are you following me?" the black and white wolf huffed over his shoulder after some hours of exploration, voice muffled by the limp body of a rabbit held firmly between his teeth.

Sun laughed at how utterly serious the other sounded despite speaking through a mouthful of fluff. "I was curious," he answers easily, the response slipping from his tongue like a drop of water from the tip of a leaf. "You aren't from this area, are you?"

Blue eyes narrowed at him for a moment, but with a slow turn of the head, it was clear he was not deemed a threat by the other wolf. "No."

Ah, quite the conversationalist, this one.

"Not gonna share? Pity," Sun simpered, having rather a good time already messing around with this quiet fellow. "Can I guess then?"

An uninterested grunt was his answer, and so they padded alongside one another; Sun guessing which territory or pack this wolf came from, and his grumbly companion adding very little to the conversation beyond the occasional word or sound. It wasn't until they had strayed from the heart of the woods and closer to the mountains that the other wolf, Thunder Heart, finally interrupted Sun's exuberant guessing game.

"We're here," he stated dryly, claws dully clicking against the hard ground as the terrain shifted from damp forest detritus to stony outcropping that sloped upwards into the graying sky.

Sun came to a stop, nose wrinkling just a bit as he brought his gaze up towards the foreboding peaks of the mountains. "Here? Well...I suppose that makes sense. Getting anything out of you was like trying to get blood from stone," he remarked, tail swinging in a lazy wag at Thunder's look of confusion. "Does this mean I'm invited for the feast?" he added cheekily, gesturing with his head to the rabbit still clutched in the other's muzzle. It wouldn't be much between the two of them, but then again, such a small meal was rather...bonding, in a way, intimate. Food and how it was doled out was always a good indicator to Sun about the integrity of a wolf.

Thunder blinked slowly at him, an ear twitching in thought before a curt, "If you want," was offered up as he started to pick his way up the craggy paths. Sun chuckled, jauntily following along.

He didn't know why it surprised him that Thunder Heart was part of a pack. Perhaps the stoicism of the young wolf had made it easy to feel like they were kin and kith out in the wilds on their own.

Still, as they ascended into the chillier air of the windswept peaks, Thunder ducking into a well-hidden alcove that fed out into what looked like a system of caves, Sun found himself taken aback when other wolves came to check them out -- even some pups among them. They looked nothing like Thunder, but they clambered and tripped over his paws as he trudged through the press of furry bodies with his rabbit prize still in tow. A nearly white, speckled female barreled into the black and white male, and it didn't take anything else for Sun to connect the dots.

Ah, how cruel fate could be, but he couldn't deny that it was quite the good joke. 

The rabbit was finally dropped, added to a pile of other fresh kills in a small dead-end of the caves. Chatter and yapping started up as everyone crowded in to grab their share of meat. The pups squealed and shrieked amongst each other, getting about as much food in their mouths as they did in their fur and on each other. Their mother came around to playfully encourage them to eat properly, and as much as Sun wished he could feel bitter about this turn, he found himself encapsulated by the warmth shared in these dreary, gray mountains.

"You're quiet, but you're not eating," Thunder stated in a manner which most, likely, would have taken as matter of fact. But his eyes were sure, and there was a question in their blue depths.

You aren't talking like you were before, but it's not because your mouth is occupied with food. Are you okay?

Sun settled down into a more relaxed position from the somewhat stunned and bewildered sitting he'd been doing just a moment before, front paws crossed as he beamed at the other male. "Well, you did drop my rabbit in the pile there, instead of giving it to me, you know."

It wasn't what he was expecting, and he certainly didn't stay right away. But, Sun found himself drawn back to the smells of thunderstorms and mountain stones, and even if he wasn't the one to capture the silent heart of the young alpha, he was content to make sure Thunder Heart and his pups lived long and proud lives. 

There was always a splash of sunlight, sparkling and brand new, after every storm that swept through the land.