Brontide

Name

Means a low rumbling sound like distant thunder. Named for his strong resemblance to his mother, whose name was Thunder. 

Personality

Protective; cautious; intimidating; self-doubtful; easily flustered 

Lore

0 months: Born alongside a sister and two brothers to the lead pair of a prosperous, forest-based pack. 

3 months: Becomes the dominant pup in the litter due to his strength and confidence. Thinks of and refers to himself as a male wolf; packmates pick up on this and follow suit.

6 months: Begins being groomed as future pack leader by his parents. 

9 months: While Brontide and his littermates are practicing hunting unsupervised, a fire breaks out in the pack’s territory. He attempts to direct his siblings to safety, but he ends up repeatedly leading them to dead ends blocked by flames. Brontide’s rising fear fuels his littermates’ distress, and one of his brothers - Squall - loses patience, deciding to take his chances and charge into the flames. Their other brother, Silver, dithers before following suit, while the sister - Mistral - glues herself to Brontide’s flank. Brontide desperately looks for a way out, and miraculously, one of his aunts appears to herd the youngsters to safety.

In the aftermath, the pack slowly gathers on the outskirts of their territory. While many have sustained injuries, the only missing pack members are Brontide’s brothers, Squall and Silver. Several adults venture into the scorched woodland to search for the missing males; hours later, they return to break the news that they found the brothers’ remains pinned by a fallen tree.

Overcome by grief and shame at his failure to protect his littermates, Brontide begins a self-imposed exile.

10 months: After wandering aimlessly for a month, struggling to feed himself, Brontide comes across a much older male wolf gnawing on a dead fish. Despite his own malnourished state, the older wolf smells ill, and Brontide approaches with bristling fur and bared teeth, aiming to intimidate the elder. Before he can get close, another wolf leaps into his path: Ashen, a smaller adolescent male, shields the old wolf with his body and snarls at Brontide. 

Shocked and intimidated, the loner apologises and prepares to retreat. However, the older wolf, Birch, forgives him and offers to share the fish. His son, Ashen, watches carefully as Brontide gratefully accepts. He ends up sticking with the father-son pair, growing particularly close with Ashen while he helps hunt for the ailing Birch.

11 months: Ashen and Brontide become mates. Birch passes away from his illness. Ashen and Brontide grieve for a few days, before deciding to move on and find their own territory. They set off towards the mountains.

1 year: Ashen and Brontide find unoccupied territory in the mountains. They find a large cavern at the base of a mountain, bordered by coniferous trees, and claim it as their den. Here, they establish their own pack. 

1 year, 1 1/2 months: Brontide and Ashen have settled into their roles as joint leaders of a modest pack. Brontide commands the pack's Hunters while Ashen patrols the territory. He marks the borders, fights off trespassers, and brings back useful items - and occasionally other wolves. Any potential packmates are introduced to Brontide, who - being far more suspicious of strangers than his mate - evaluates them, and if they gain his approval, they are accepted as part of the family. 

1 year, 2 months: Brontide begins to experience a strange restlessness. He finds himself stalking the mountainside, searching for something, though he can't say what. Ashen watches with concern and bemusement from a ledge above the Den; he follows Brontide when he moves out of eyeshot, and fetches him back when night falls or the weather turns.

Brontide appreciates his mate's devotion, but as the weeks pass he grows irritable; he finally snaps at the other leader for treating him like a pup. Ashen is hurt and becomes melancholy, but refuses to leave Brontide unattended. Their relationship becomes strained, but they do their best to hide it from their packmates, lest they cause disharmony. 

1 year, 3 months: Days after his outburst towards Ashen, Brontide's guilt is eating away at him, and he resolves to apologise. Ashen had gone out on patrol while his mate slept, so Brontide waits impatiently for his return, pacing near the Den's entrance. Something catches his eye: to one side of the Den is a lichen-covered rock formation, beneath which he now notices an opening - visible only from a certain angle, blocked by a small boulder. 

Feeling a tingle of excitement, Brontide shoulders the rock out of the way. Sure enough, the pile of rocks partially cover what looks like an old badger sett. Somehow, Brontide is certain that this is what he has been searching for. He eagerly begins to dig, widening the entrance tunnel until it is wolf-sized, then getting to work on the chamber beyond.

Before he knows it, dusk has arrived - along with his mate, who watches Brontide dig from the tunnel's entrance, head cocked. They regard each other silently for a moment, before Ashen belly-crawls into the chamber and sets to work clearing out the excess dirt. Before he can start working in earnest, Brontide turns around as best he can in the cramped chamber to lick at Ashen's muzzle. He receives a nuzzle in return, and knows he is forgiven. 

As dawn breaks, the two wolves fall asleep, curled together in the newly-dug den. 

1 year, 3 1/2 months: Brontide spends increasing amounts of time in the small den he had dug with Ashen, filling it with comfortable bedding and sleeping in it every night - and often during the day, as his previous restlessness has been replaced by fatigue. After two weeks of this, Brontide experiences a restless night... which he spends bringing his and Ashen's first litter into the world. The small den is then dubbed the Nursery. 

The new pups are named Mistral - after Brontide's litter-sister - and Mullein, after a flower that is a favourite of Ashen's. While both parents are surprised, as neither had any experience with pregnancy and didn't recognise the signs, they are overjoyed, and completely enamoured with their new babies. The pack are also ecstatic at the new arrivals, and eagerly take over hunting and patrolling while their leaders get to grips with parenthood. 

Trivia

- Is often mistaken for the pack's leader, as he's much larger and fiercer-looking than Ashen; but after the incident with his siblings, he hates the idea of everyone looking to him for guidance and usually confers with his mate when making decisions. 

- He loves bluejays and collects their feathers. 

- He's frightened of fire to such an extent that he has nightmares about it. 

- Despite his strength, he's very gentle with pups.