The leader, who, through my horrible attention and commitment, survived from the very first day Wolvden released to it's 1 year anniversary. We love Phoenix.
Named for the legendary Bird of Fire, it was her Parents' hope that Phoenix of The Glacier's Razor would bring prosperity to The Pack of The Howling Williwaw. Living in the Northern Glaciers, The Pack of the Howling Williwaw suffered under freezing temperatures that only continued to get worse, Killing off Phoenix's littermates early on, leaving her parents to neglect her in their grief. Soon after, an illness struck, weakening the pack's beta to the point she froze to death in the middle of a hunt she led despite their Shaman's advice. The disease that killed her did not stop with her, however, and soon it spread through the pack ravaging even the healthiest of adults in the herb-barren wasteland the Howling Williwaw called their home.
The pack Shaman, Issenblomen of the Fjords pleaded with the alpha, Howling Winds of the Nyrthgar, to take the pack somewhere warmer where they could hopefully recover from the illness, but the Alpha was stubborn, refusing to move his pack from the territory they had called theirs for generations. Eventually, all but one wolf perished from Howling's Bear-headedness, Phoenix being the only wolf spared for a reason only the stars know. Phoenix, knowing she could not survive alone, pondered which star favored her as she trudged on weary adolescent paws Southbound with no goal beyond survival. Her whole pack dead, she had nothing but grief, desolation, and instinct to fuel her pawsteps, and as she was bound to, she tired quickly. In her exhaustion, she failed to plant her paw on solid ground and tumbled down into a river hidden by its steep banks and long grasses that drooped over the water. Floundering, she wondered for a moment if this is how she would die, tired, alone, and choking on river water despite the fact that the first thing Williwaw pups were taught was how to swim. As Phoenix fought, adamant not to give up hope until she'd howled her last, a set of gentle but firm teeth met her scruff and she was pulled to shore, hacking up river water she'd swallowed as her savior began to speak. "You should come with me. I am Tala, and I help new wolves like you. This place is vast. You won't survive long on your own." At Phoenix's hesitance, this strange she-wolf–Tala–relaxed, cocking her head with a small wuff of amusement, humming out, "You have nothing to fear from me. Many wolves have come before you and many will come after you. I help them all."
Moving forward with Tala, Phoenix looked out upon three beautiful landscapes, captivated by their side-by-side harmony. Tala began speaking once more but Phoenix was hardly paying attention, her eyes caught on the landscape that sung to her, the Mountains. When given the chance, Phoenix immediately chose the craggy, snowy, rolling reminder of the place she used to call home. Treading carefully into the territory that would come to be her own, Phoenix looked at the stars twinkling above her in the clear, crisp mountain sky and her face broke into a toothy grin. Her gaze fell to the crystal pool of water flowing from a spring-sourced waterfall into the small cove beneath her, reflecting the stars' light into her eyes, leaving them sparkling with a thousand visions of prosperity.
She threw back her head and howled for the stars had whispered to her what her pack's name would be. From that day on, she was Phoenix of the Glacier's Razor: Alpha of The Pack of Reflected Stars.
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Looking up at the swirling clouds reflecting and filtering moonlight, Phoenix knew the time was near. She moved to the waterfall that started it all, filling that crystalline, somehow smooth surfaced pool that reflected all the thousands of stars in the sky, capturing their beauty for her pack. Red-Leaf was approaching, it couldn't be more than two Moon-turns off. Phoenix lifted her head to the sky once more, pleading with the sprits she was soon to join that they help Nyota as they have helped her. The new leader would soon have to deal with the complaints of a pack in the midst of Fallen-Leaf, and Phoenix would watch on with interest.
Lifting old and weary paws Phoenix padded carefully to the edge of the Pool Of Stars, lying down and letting the tip of her muzzle rest just inside the water's edge. Closing her eyes for the last time, Phoenix huffed a breath and smiled in the way only a Wolf could. She couldn't wait to see how her pack went on without her. So, in the light of a Full moon, stars shining a little brighter, Phoenix took her last breath and sighed, ceasing her movement, her spirit joining her ancestors, her parents, Mate, and First confidant, in the sky, Among the Stars.
