Talos,an older hunter got separated from his pack by a snowstorm in the tundra lost his way and was wandering for days,starving and distraught from being separated from his pack had been found by Dakota,a young and curious hunter who was solo hunting,despite the warning from Skadi about how unforgiving the tundra was.Dakota took him back to Fenrir's pack,Fenrir moved by his loss and hardship allowed him to join the pack.Fenrir was sure he would make a good hunter considering his determination,but Talos had one condition about being a hunter again,he was never to step foot in the tundra again.Talos never knew what happened to his pack or his hunting party,he never dared to look for them again.A while later he was hunting in the forrest with his hunting party,alongside Dakota whom he had become friends with,an older female wolf had appeared behind him scaring away the deer they were hunting.At first he was annoyed by the wolf but he saw in her eyes that they had been in a similar circumstance to hers. He could not bear to leave her there,so he took her back to Fenrir's pack.She was allowed to join the pack,her name was Lila. They had bonded over their shared experiences,and decided it would be best to settle down and raise puppies together. A long time had passed since then,his friend Dakota had a mate,Shadow. Though he disliked shadow he was happy for Dakota.He thought that Shadow's hunting skills were amusing, not that what he was doing was proper hunting anyway. A while later,Lila fell pregnant and together they had a daughter,imani. Imani seemed to be more like her mother in personality,always aloof and always getting lost,they had that in common at least.When imani was fully grown she became a scout,this worried Talos not just because of her aloof nature but as he had gotten lost before and it was something he never wanted his only daughter to experience.Soon after Lila had passed peacefully in her sleep while in her den. This broke Talos's heart as he adored his mate,one of the very few wolves who had understood his circumstances from experience.Later on Dionysus,the son of an old friend of Lila's came to his den.The young wolf was full of life and looked strong,despite the controversy that Dionysus was half Falacu Talos had thought he was a decent wolf from what he had heard.Talos had asked the wolf why he was pestering him at his den,Dionysus replied that Talos might have stories to tell and was interested in listening.Talos looked up at him and said "im old and weak,I don't have time to tell stories".Dionysus looked at him confused,and said "But you do have stories though right?,your one of the most experienced hunters in the pack". Talos was about to reply when Dakota had wandered over,Dionysus turned his head to Dakota,she nodded at him. Dionysus lowered his head and trotted off. "You don't have time to tell stories?,I beg to differ. I know you haven't even told the hunters about some of those stories".Talos replied with an unamused expression "What difference does it make if I tell the hunters stories?.And that young wolf is annoyingly persistent,prancing his way up to my den nearly every day asking the same question".Dakota smiled and said "And who else was that annoyingly persistent,any guesses?.We ended up getting along eventually,why can't you get along with him?". Talos thought for a minute and said "I've known you for years Dakota,he's not like you". Dakota looked down,examining her paws and said "well of course he's not like me,we're two completely different wolves". Talos huffed seemingly amused by Dakota's response. Just then imani had rushed into the den,back from her scout with her tail wagging and completely covered in feathers.Talos had asked her what she had been up to on her scout,Imani replied "Well,I was scouting the forrest as usual and then Hati jumped out from behind a tree and scared a whole flock of turkeys.The came straight for ME and not him!. And then he denied that he scared the turkeys when it was clearly him". Talos smiled and Dakota looked as if she was trying not to laugh. Imani looked at both of them and said "it's not that funny is it?, I promise I was paying attention this time". Dakota and Talos looked at each other and burst out laughing. After a while Dakota said to Talos "You see there is no harm in telling stories.Give him a chance,he's a nice wolf. And I'm sure the hunters would also appreciate your stories sometime like they used too".Dakota left Talos's den not long after.A few days later Dionysus had once again pranced up to Talos's den,Dionysus was about to ask what stories Talos had but Talos had already asked what stories he wanted to hear. Dionysus was ecstatic,he never expected the wolf to say yes to telling him stories. Dionysus entered the den and layed down,with his ears pricked forward and his tail wagging. Talos began telling him stories, they stayed there until sunset chatting with each other. Talos was glad someone had come to see him.
From then on Dionysus went to see Talos regularly. Imani never questioned why he was there,when she wasn't busy doing something else she would stay and talk with them.Over time the three developed a strong bond with one another and imani was happy that her father had someone to talk to while she was gone. Imani had thought Talos had looked a little less sullen since Dionysus had been seeing him.One day Dionysus had trotted his way up to Talos again. Talos said "why are you here? It's not usually the day I tell you stories." Dionysus replied "Actually,I've applied for a spot on a hunting team. And I've got a test to hunt something tomorrow by myself" "Really,where will you be hunting?" Talos said,Dionysus turned his head slightly sideways and replied "Well I don't know yet,I get to pick the place to hunt." "Ah,so is that why you are here,You want to know where the best place to hunt is.Well what are you planing on hunting?" Dionysus said "well, I was thinking a deer or something.You know,large enough so for me to take down so I can prove my strength but not to hard to track" Talos looked at Dionysus,chuckled and said "Not hard to track? If you want prey easy to track you look for turkeys!. Even adolescents find tracking easier than taking down prey". Dionysus with a slightly annoyed but amused look on his face replied "Well,where do I find the deer?" "Deer are everywhere,but if you want to prove your stealth and tracking i say go to the grasslands. You'll have to make sure to stay low there as there isn't much cover and once they spot you they'll run. Tracking them isn't too hard either if you know what you're looking for. You do know what you're looking for right?" Talos replied. "Yes,I do. Now how do I take them down?" Dionysus said,"once you run at them try and take them down at the shoulder,if it's a buck watch the antlers. If you can't get the shoulder go for the legs" Talos said.
Dionysus said "thank you for your advice" nodded,swiftly turned away and walked off.
The next day imani had returned to the den after her scout,"Anything interesting today?" Talos asked "not really,I've just been patrolling the pack's boarders. It would have gone a lot faster if I had another scout with me. All the hunters are watching Dionysus hunt so there is barely anyone out there,except for Luna and the few pups with their pupsitters" imani replied. "Ah,so no turkeys this time?" Talos said,imani sighed and said "there were turkeys but none of them ran at me this time". A few hours later imani had left to help luna with gathering herbs and the rest of the pack was back with Dionysus,and a large buck in tow. Dionysus gleefully trotted over to Talos,with one of the buck's antlers in his mouth. "I thought you might want this" Dionysus said,"Why would I want that? You're the one who took that beast down. You deserve to keep it,make it a trophy." Talos replied,Dionysus set the antler down on the ground. "I think I got in on a hunting team" Dionysus said "that's good,does it make you happy to be a hunter and provide for the pack?" Talos said,"yes,very happy! Anyway I best go see luna" Dionysus replied. Dionysus turned away,picked up the antler and left. Talos was quite happy for the young wolf,and for the first time in a while he was happy for himself. Imani watched her father and Dionysus from a distance, unsure of how she should tell Talos about her feelings for Dionysus. A couple of weeks later Talos was wandering the forrest for the first time in months,his first trip out without Lila. It felt strange being alone. He was getting old,his fur ragged and his body thin but he was still strong nonetheless. Dionysus spotted him and ran over,although a bit sheepishly which Talos thought was strange. Dionysus with his head low and averting his gaze from Talos said "I don't know if this is the right time to be saying this or if I should even be suggesting it at all but I would like to ask if you would allow me to pairbond with imani".Talos was in shock,Dionysus suggesting pairbonding with HIS daughter. Was this the only goal Dionysus had in their friendship?. Talos stalked towards the young wolf,almost looming over him. Dionysus backed up and lowered himself to the ground as if expecting to get bitten."You dare suggest pairbonding with my daughter,was this the only reason you wanted to hear stories from and old wolf?!". "No I wanted to hear your stories, I really did. It's just that luna proposed we pairbond,imani agreed that she would like to pairbond with me. SHE was the one who brought me to luna" Dionysus replied. Talos recoiled with and angry yet saddened look on his face and strode off. Dionysus was still frozen on the ground looking at Talos with a side glance. As Talos wandered through the trees he had wondered why imani had suggested pairbonding to Dionysus,or even if it was imani. Perhaps it was Luna that did the prompting. He wasn't waiting to find out,he went straight to Luna's den. He found Luna sitting quietly at the entrance to her den,looking rather unconcerned and almost as if she expected him to come. Talos lowered his head but kept his shoulders high,his maw open as if he were about to snarl at her. "You better have a good explanation to this" Talos said "well I thought as much,I told the pup that approaching you would lead to much strife" Luna replied "WHY! Why did you encourage this,IMANI pairbonding with HIM" Talos said "oh I thought you knew,imani has been planning it. She said she wanted someone to settle down with,he was one of the few available and she was dead set on him. She'd thought since you had known him for some time that you would accept him as family. And Dionysus agreed that he would pairbond with her,he said he had felt the same way for some time". "Family,I'M her family" Talos replied "You're the only blood relative she has left in this pack,Vera left some time ago. She's lonely,she needs someone other than you." Luna said. "Blood relative" Talos scoffed "You know Lila was fond of him,she treated him like a son. Even when Atlas had raised him she still made sure he was safe. Make that wish true for her,for Dionysus to be her son. For him to be family. It's not just Lila that shares this wish and you know it." Luna said. Talos creeped closer to Luna,this time lowering his body to a more relaxed manner and softening his look "Lila,she's turned out so much like Lila." Talos replied. "Hmm who would have guessed? She's always running off somewhere,and in that sense she's also turned out like you." Luna said, Talos scoffed at her "I only wish to protect her","Yes,and why would you want to protect her from someone she loves?" Luna replied. Talos turned his head away from luna,almost looking sad, "it's about you isn't it? You either don't want her to experience the pain you are going through or it has something to do with your previous pack,which is it?." Luna said in a soft manner, Talos put his tail between his legs and flattened his ears and said in a shaky voice "B-both". Luna motioned to Talos to sit down next to her to talk,he obliged. "Before when I was in my old pack,there were hunters that I was with. There was Ash,the leader of the party,Axel the youngest in the group that had only just joined the hunters,Maeve who had convinced Ash to let me join her party,and was one of the more seasoned hunters. And there was Oliver who had only been in the party as long as I had, mind you he didn't do very well at hunting, Mostly just bragging about being the best hunter in the team and showing off to Maeve. One day we all went out hunting, it was only Axel's third hunt out in the tundra and of course Ash wanted him to get more experience. We tracked a herd of elk though the snow,well Maeve did and showed Axel how to track. I was walking next to Ash, while Maeve and Axel were ahead and Oliver behind us. Over a hill we spotted the elk,as usual we organised ourselves to take one down. Everything went well,Maeve,Axel and I chased while Ash and Oliver took down a bull. We got the elk,but of course we had to get it back to the pack. It was to big to drag all the way back,so we decided to rip up the carcass and take it back piece by piece. We decided to send Oliver,Maeve and Ash back to the pack,leaving me and Axel to guard the carcass. Soon after the wind changed,the blizzard hit. Axel and I hid close to the elk as it was the only protection we had. After the storm passed,I decided to leave and see if I could find the rest of the party. Axel begged me not to go,I should of listened." "It wasn't your fault Talos" Luna said. Talos replied "Wasn't it? I left Axel alone in the middle of nowhere,freezing. I never found the rest of the party,I don't know what happened to them." "Nothing like that will ever happen to Imani,I promise." Luna replied. "Thank you Luna,for everything" Talos said,he got up and walked off,on his way to return to his den. Hoping imani wasn't too mad at him for what happened with Dionysus. When he returned to the den he heard imani pacing frantically,and Dakota's voice. Talos stepped into the den making sure to keep his body language passive. Dakota saw Talos from across Imani's shoulder,knowing he would be no threat to his daughter she remained calm,Imani however turned to him and snapped her muzzle. Imani pinned Talos to the ground,he allowed it but still snarled at her."You think just because I'm YOUR daughter that I don't get to be with anyone else!? Who gives YOU the right to make decisions for me!." "Imani,listen to me ple-" "NO! you have no right to tell me to listen,not after you wouldn't listen to him." Imani was fuming,her eyes full of rage. Talos began fighting her grip,and Imani never loosened hers. Talos ended up flipping her over onto her back and pinning her,she wiggled under him trying to break free whilst snarling at him. "Imani,I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I never should have done what I did." She stopped snarling,when he was sure she wouldn't try to bite him,Talos stepped aside letting Imani up off the ground. Imani circled him,her tail stiff and her hackles raised,waiting to see if she needed to defend herself. "I'm sorry I was selfish,I just didn't want the things that happened to me to happen to you. I was only trying to protect you." Talos said. Imani softened "so you won't try to stop me pairbonding with Dionysus?." "No, if that is what you truly want then I won't stop you." Imani turned and walked out of the den. "Well that was a lot of drama for one day." Dakota.Talos had forgotten she was here,he turned to her and sighed. "And what do you make of this 'drama' hmm?" "I think your an old wolf that has lost his marbles." Dakota replied, Talos flopped himself onto the ground and chuckled "what's so funny to you?." Dakota asked "Well I'd thought at least once you would've asked me 'does this remind you of anyone else?". "And does it?" "Yes,very much so". A few days had passed,Talos hadn't seen Dakota since. He was lounging in his den when he heard yelps outside, he went out to investigate and saw Hati chasing Imani with a stick, his fur covered in turkey feathers. Shadow,Dakota's mate and wandered over to Talos. It was unusual for Shadow to see him "Is everything alright Shadow?" Talos asked "Yes everything is good,Although Dakota insisted I bring you to the den,it was more of a constant nagging though" Shadow replied "Hmm I best go see her then if she 'Insists'." When they arrived at the den Shadow went in first,greeting Dakota who was laying with her back turned to the entrance "Talos I'm so happy you're here!" Dakota said "And why did you 'Insist' on seeing me?." Talos asked, Dakota didn't answer him but a small yap did.Dakota motioned for him to come get a closer look,there right next to her belly was a pup,a reasonable size and still had it's eyes closed "We still don't have a name for him yet,I was hoping you could help with that" Dakota said "what good am I at naming pups after all im an old wolf that's lost his marbles?" Talos replied "Oh come on,at least try" "alright,what about Ash?","I don't think that really suits him" Dakota replied, "Oliver?" "No,that sounds like he would be a show off" Talos chuckled "What?" Dakota asked, "Nothing" Talos replied "Shadow, any ideas?" Dakota said "Don't look at me,I can't name him" Shadow replied. After a while of thinking Talos said "What about Axel?" "Talos that's a perfect name!" Dakota said whilst beaming "Axel it is then." Shadow said, "Welcome to the world little Axel" Dakota said. "I best be on my way back to the den, Imani and Hati were having a 'feather fight' earlier. I should make sure one of them hasn't bitten off the other's paws." Talos said. Talos had returned to his den, He was tired and Imani and hati were nowhere to be seen, he decided to lay down and wait for her return. Not long after Imani had returned,with Dionysus in tow. "Well,look at you two staying close together as if you were swans" "Please I've had enough of feathers for one day" Imani said, Talos chuckled and said "I saw" "what brings the both of you here?." "Well,we'd thought that it might be nice to-" Imani started "get your blessing!" Dionysus finished enthusiasticly "Why come all the way up here to get an old wolf's blessing you know you already have?" replied Talos, Imani stared at him. Talos sighed and said "Very well then,you have my blessing" "Thank you,it means a lot to us" Dionysus said. "So when is the ceremony?" Talos asked "in a few days,we are waiting for Fenrir to organise it." Imani replied "Very good" Talos answered "Dionysus,would you do me a favour?" Talos said "Yes what is it?" Dionysus replied "I think that after all this time,you owe telling me at least one story" " Of course, well not that I'm any good at telling stories but I'll try" Dionysus said. Dionysus started his story, Talos was getting sleepy. He tried to fight it but he was just so tired .... Talos wandered through the forrest, he picked up a scent. The scent of deer, this one was alone. He tracked the deer through the winding trees, and there he saw it, a buck as white as snow. He lowered his body and positioned himself into a crouch, slowly moving inch by inch to his would be meal. He was almost close enough to pounce when the buck ran. It wasn't him making any noise, Talos was sure of it, when he remembered. Could it be?.
