ISTONE PACK  ◉

a welcoming pack from the mountains

Your paws crunch in the thin layer of snow coating the ground. It's only autumn, but the nights are already cold, and this snow is left over from a few days ago. Most of it has melted since then, but some remains, and there's a bitter chill in the air even in the valleys where you are now.

You're shivering with cold and your fur is still damp from the river you swam across in the early hours of the dawn. Now it's mid-morning and the sun has just appeared over the mountains, casting its glow over the forested valleys and rocky slopes of the mountains, and finally warming your wet fur.

Suddenly you realize that you can smell wolves - not the faint, stale scent of a lone wolf passing through several days ago, but the fresh smell of at least two wolves. It seems like you've entered a pack's territory without even knowing, and you immediately come to a halt, ears swiveling alertly. You don't know the wolves in this area, so while they might be friendly, they might easily be aggressive, and you're in no state to fight. You're about to turn back and leave the territory when you hear paws crunching over leaves and freeze.

A pale brown wolf comes into sight, stepping out from behind some trees. She stops and looks at you in surprise, her eyes widening, but doesn't immediately seem aggressive. You start backing off, tail between your legs, when she speaks.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. Her voice is gentle, and her eyes have softened with concern. You halt and start to stammer out excuses, but she moves to your side in a few quick steps and starts sniffing you over. You stiffen, fur bristling nervously, and give a small warning snarl. She steps back calmly. "No need to be aggressive," she says. "I'm not going to hurt you."

She sniffs you again, and this time you stay still. Then she draws back. "Did you swim across the river?" she asks, disbelieving. You nod, ears flat in embarrassment. She looks worried. "I'd better bring you back to the pack. You'll get sick in this cold." Before you can protest, she starts nudging you forward, and somewhat reluctantly you follow her, still feeling wary.

"My name is Breeze, by the way," she says as you walk. Now that you're a bit calmer, you notice that her fur isn't plain brown, but mixed with beige and creamy yellow hues, and she has hazel-green eyes. She looks very strong and athletic, and her coat is thick, clearly adapted to the mountains' cold climate.

You suddenly realize that she expects a reply and quickly tell her your name, even though your jaw is tense from the cold. She looks back at you with concern again. "We'll get you to our herbalist now. He'll get you warmed up and check you for any sickness," she tells you, even though you didn't ask. Then she says, "I suppose you don't know of our pack?"

When you shake your head, she continues, "It's called the Istone pack. We live here in this valley. Our leader is Reina, and her mate is Blizzard - he's scouting right now, but Reina should be at the camp."

A few minutes later, Breeze comes to a halt. "We're here. Just follow me and treat everyone with respect, okay?"

You nod and she leads you into a clearing in the pine forest. On one side is a steep slope, filled with holes, which you assume are the dens. On the other side, the land slopes away down to a small creek, before rising again into the mountains that surround the valley. In the center of the clearing is a pile of prey, which makes your mouth water.

The clearing is full of wolves. You see some puppies and adolescents playing, some wolves sleeping in the weak sunlight, and a few adults chatting in one corner of the camp. As you enter, a reddish-brown and white wolf looks up, her ears perked. She says something to the others before getting up and walking over to you. Breeze dips her head in respect, so you guess that this is the pack leader - Reina - and do the same.

"Who's this, Breeze?" Reina asks. Her voice is warm, but you can tell by how raspy it is that she's getting old. You look up again and see that her muzzle is going grey and her thick pelt is grizzled. She's still an intimidating figure, though, large and thick-furred, and her blue eyes are still bright.

Breeze tells her your name and explains that you swam across the river. You cringe in embarrassment as Reina looks at you in surprise. "In this weather?" she asks, shocked. "You do know that there's a crossing to the west?"

You reply that no, you didn't know, otherwise you wouldn't have swam across the wide part. Reina quickly sends you off to the herbalist's burrow so you can get warm and Thistle, the herbalist, can look after you. You walk across the clearing, conscious that the wolves are all watching you with interest, and crawl into the burrow. A purple-grey wolf is sitting inside, and looks up with surprise as you enter. You notice that his fur is laced with silver and cream, although the markings are hard to see in the dim light of the burrow. "Hello," he greets you. "New here?" He's already sniffing you and you reply, telling him your name and why you're here. When he hears that you swam across the river, he chuckles.

"That's a new one!" it says, before going to the back of the den to grab some herbs. "I'm Thistle, by the way." You nod and tell him you already knew as he returns and drops some leaves in front of you. "Eat those," he tells you. "They'll warm you up. Then go lie in the sun and ask someone to lick you dry."

You eat the herbs and then leave the den, looking around at all the wolves. Maybe instead of resting, you can learn more about the pack and the wolves in it?

◈  ISTONE PACK

a welcoming pack from the mountains

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

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REINA  ◉

the accepting founder

The sun is sinking, casting orange and red light over the land. The long shadows are dark and purple, and the sky itself is dim lilac. Soon, night will fall, but for now you rest in the clearing of Istone's camp, soaking up the last dying rays of sun.

Running paws thud heavily on the dirt, and a wolf comes into view. You recognize the chaser, Daffodil, streaked with dirt and mud. Upon entering the clearing, she slows to a fast trot, chest heaving as she pants. She ignores you, making a beeline for the healer's den, and clambers inside. You watch, worried - did someone on her hunting party get hurt?

She soon emerges again, tail flicking with displeasure. Thistle follows her, a weary set to his ears, and his mouth full of winterfat and yarrow. They both pad out of the clearing, back the way Daffodil came.

Concerned, you rise to your paws and look around for Reina. The camp is empty at the moment, and the only other wolf in the clearing is Finch. Then you remember Reina's favorite spot and look up onto the hill above the burrows. As you expected, she's lying on the sun-warmed rocks at the very peak of the hill, her head on her paws and her eyes closed. You hesitate, not sure if she's dozing or not, but decide to go up and chat anyway.

You skirt along the hillside and then climb up where it slopes more gently, accidentally sending some pebbles scattering down into the clearing as you do. Reina's ear flicks, and she looks up, her eyes lighting up with warmth when she sees you. She doesn't speak, but indicates that you can sit beside her with a flick of her tail.

You settle down a respectful distance away, and for a few minutes, neither of you speak. Instead, you watch the sunlight slowly fade away, and the first stars appear in the sky. You can see the first flowers of spring, nodding their heads in the chilly breeze, that bloom all around the forest. You see the river that winds through the center of the valley, barely visible above the treetops.

Soon, you hear footsteps again. Sycamore limps into the clearing, favoring one forepaw and covered in small scratches and cuts. Sunny and Thistle are helping to support him. Behind them, Daffodil and Dapple drag a deer carcass between them, hauling it onto the prey pile and dropping it there. Solaekete is padding behind them, casting worried glances at Sycamore as he enters the healer's burrow. Daffodil looks annoyed.

Beside you, Reina sighs. You quickly look at her, wondering if she's worried about Sycamore, but instead she looks slightly disappointed. "What's wrong?" you ask her. She blinks and turns to you, apparently having forgotten you were there, and smiles slightly, but it looks forced.

"Don't worry about Sycamore," she says, avoiding your question. "He'll be fine."

You flatten your ears and say, "I'm not worried." Then your curiosity becomes too strong and you ask, "Why did you seem disappointed?"

Reina looks startled. Then she turns away, her gaze focusing on Daffodil, who still looks grumpy. A small frown creases her brow.

"This is the third time in as many months that Sycamore has gotten hurt," she admits. "The last two times were in winter, when we couldn't afford it - at least this was in spring…" She trails off, perhaps feeling like she's making excuses to herself.

You watch her, wondering if she has more to say, but she's silent. You hesitate, and then ask, "Why do you let him stay?"

"Stay where?" she asks, looking slightly confused. Her gaze returns to you, but she seems to see through you, as if she isn't really looking. It unsettles you.

"In the pack," you reply quickly, looking away.

"What?" Reina bristles, her ears flattening and eyes narrowing. She almost snarls, and you flinch back, startled and nervous. She quickly regains composure, though her ears remain flat. "No. Never! Force a pack member away?" She shudders, her tail curling around her legs. "I would never. Do you know nothing about our pack?" she asks suddenly, sharply.

You cringe, your ears flat in shame. "...Sorry," you mumble. You press your eyes shut, feeling guilty for upsetting her. You do know about Istone Pack, and you should have known that even talk of chasing an unwilling packmate away would upset Reina. You curl your tail closer around yourself.

Reina is silent. She doesn't tell you that it's okay, as you hoped she might. Then she says, "Do you know why we formed the Istone Pack?" Her voice is soft and solemn.

You shake your head, still looking away. The night is dark, the sun having fully set; only a few tinges of orange still glow in the sky above the mountains. Soon, the moon will rise, and the world will be kissed with silver, but for now, everything is black and grey.

"I wasn't born in a pack," Reina says softly. You finally turn to her. Her expression is distant, her gaze fixed on a point above the mountains. She doesn't look at you as she continues.

"My mother wasn't even a wolf. She was a wolf-dog. My father was nothing, really - just a pupsitter for a large pack." Her voice turns slightly bitter, and she falls silent for a minute. "It was called the Ash Highland Pack." She turns to you now, and sees the recognition flash in your eyes - the mountain range across from you is the Ash Highlands range.

"Yes, their territory was in those mountains," she confirms. "The pack was strict - no outsiders were to interact with any in the pack. But my father felt isolated and alone, even in his own pack - and my mother was a loner, a wolf-dog, who had nobody. They fell in love, but they had to keep it a secret."

"Then, Kisha gave birth to me, and my littermates. There were four of us." She closes her eyes. "When the Ash Highland Pack's leader found out… he banished my father, and chased all of us out of the territory. Over the mountains, into the domain of the humans."

Your eyes widen at the mention of humans, but you say nothing.

"Owl Fur vanished," she says flatly, matter-of-factly. You assume that Owl Fur was her father, although she doesn't clarify. She continues. "My littermates starved. Then, my mother vanished too." She closes her eyes. "I was alone."

You're both silent. You watch the peaks of the mountains, the tops of the pines, the valley where the river is - now too dark to see. Your gaze traces of the dark spires rising against the pale sky - the Ash Highland mountain range, where Reina was probably born. The tallest peak is already illuminated by the faintest touch of moonlight.