Leif

Leif once lived in a tribe known as the Faeren. They were known for their traditional practices and belief in the supernatural, and they often held their spiritual practices in a mysterious cave system at the foot of the mountains in the coniferous forest. The wolves claimed to see visions and twinkling green lights that guided them through the mortal world. Of these wolves, Leif was one of the strongest and had a knack for seeing visions of the future. The Faeren found him abandoned under a tree when he was barely old enough to open his eyes. They had no idea where he came from, but one thing was for certain, he had extraordinary abilities to connect with the supernatural that rivaled some of their leaders. They found this out through his mentor, Fleur. She incredibly young for a mentor, but she had proved herself and earned the pack's respect. Leif looked up to her a great deal when he was a pup. She was kind, witty, and admirable; he wanted to be just like her. And he did. When he was only 11 months old he was named one of the tribe's guides in their traditions. As the leaders presented him with the role, he glanced behind him to see Fleur practically beaming with pride. He had never felt better. However good things can't last forever, and one day everything changed. The Faeren were generally accepting and caring, but they had a very specific set of rules. They were VERY strict when it came to their code and had a no exceptions mind set when it came to rule breakers. The cave system that they lived in ran deep into the earth, and different chambers and passageways had different purposes. Though the wolves were free to wander through these places as they please, no one was EVER allowed to step foot in a certain passageway at the end of the caves. It led to the sacred chamber of the gods, and it was believed that if any mortal entered the chamber, the gods would become angry and wreck havoc on the world for disturbing their sleep. Because of this, even the passageway leading to it was strictly off limits. One day, as Leif was leading a tour of pups through the caves and teaching them the ways of the tribe, he looked back and noticed that one of the pups was missing. He ran through the caves looking for it before seeing a glimpse of gray fur. There! He ran into the passage the pup was in and grabbed him by the scuff of the neck. As the pup squirmed and protested Leif looked around. What passage were they in again? This didn't look like one of the usual passages. Suddenly Leif's blood ran cold. There were runes on the walls. Only one passage was covered in runes.... There was a furious howl from the entrance to the passage. Leif jumped. It was Argo, one of the tribe's leaders. He growled fiercely, "What are you doing Leif!?" He strode into the passage and snatched Leif up. As Leif yelped and tried to explain, he was dragged off to the other leaders and spat on the floor. Argo explained that he had found Leif with a pup in the passage that leads to the sacred chamber and there was a collective gasp. Leif tried to protest but was immediately shut up with a sharp push from Argo. He fell to the ground as the pup from before scrambled off. "You know we have a zero tolerance policy for rule breaking!" one of the leaders snaps, "You are hereby banished from this pack for endangering the land by entering the sacred passage WITH A PUP!" Again Leif tried to explain. She looked at him coldly, "I don't want an explanation. You know what happens to traitors of our code. I want you gone at sunset," she looked down at him with one last icy glare, "I thought you were better than this Leif. You of all wolves. Get out of our sight!" He was escorted to his chamber to collect his things. His mind whirled. What had he done!? On his way out he saw Fleur. She was sitting by herself at a small pool at the edge of the territory. When he asked her what was wrong she explained that she had a bad feeling about something. Surprised, Leif explained his predicament. Fleur gasped muttering something about the spirits being right. But something happened that Leif hadn't expected. She snapped at the air in fury. "How could they!? How COULD they!? You were only trying to rescue a pup! Them and their stupid policies! Can't they see that you just saved their skin by keeping that pup from going farther down the passage!? What if he reached the chamber!?" she continued to howl in fury. Leif was frightened, but almost touched. No one had stood up for him except her. They talked for a long time after that until they came to a conclusion, they would leave together. Leif because he had to, and Fleur for justice. They had become very close when Fleur mentored Leif, and it appeared that she wasn't going to lose him for the world. Together they left. They traveled for quite some time developing an even closer bond. Leif smiled as Fleur told him stories of his youth and she laughed at his jokes he told along the way. They still believed in spirits and their tribes practices and visions, but they had decided that they didn't need to stay at their homeland for that. Besides, traveling was fun. They had never left home before so they were astounded by all of the different creatures and landscapes that the world has to offer. Eventually, they did settle down once being invited into the Clan of Many Stars, but it was a truly magical experience while it lasted. After being in the Clan of Many Stars for a couple of months, Leif met Mira. She was kind, laid-back, and wasn't thrown off by his spiritual beliefs and practices despite not really believing in them herself. In her own words, "Eh, everybody has to believe somethin' right? If anything, the effort you put into in is admirable, don't ya think?" Some wolves called her lazy, but to Leif she just knew how to pick her battles and didn't care what anyone else thought about her. Not to mention that she was in a hunting party with some of the best hunters in the pack. And God, was she beautiful. Her black and gold fur shined in the sun, and her multicolored eyes twinkled like prisms. She was like some kind of sun goddess. They talked often in the afternoons when Mira wasn't hunting, and they had a lot in common. They had both become separated from their original homes and found refuge in the clan of many stars, like a lot of the in the pack. They were both kind and giving, and they didn't care that they believed differently. It was a perfect match. It wasn't a surprise to any wolf when they became mates. Leif was so endlessly happy with her. He couldn't wait for their first litter. Together in the Clan of Many Stars with Mira, Fleur, and so many others he felt that he could never be happier.