11/02/22
Igneous was doing his usual rounds around his expansive territory. He could wander for hours, just looking for a sign of wolves out here. Not surprisingly, it was very quiet out today. That is, until he found small pawprints in the mud right in front of him. He stooped down and sniffed at the prints, they were fresh, and going toward a part of the territory out of his usual route.
He followed the paw prints for a good while until he couldn't see them anymore. Ahead of him, was a group of fallen logs. He saw a tail get tucked back under one of the logs. He hesitantly walked closer, he heard whimpering from under the logs. Not pain-related, clearly, but fear. Igneous lowered his head to peek into the log pile. On the far side of the logs was a blueish pup, she was cowering, her eyes wide as she was scrunched in the corner.
Igneous laid down, his head still under the log pile as he tried to coax the pup out. Every few moments, the pup would scoot a little closer. When Igneous mentioned that other pups would be there, she seemed keen on going with him. Igneous guided her through the Conifers, following his own scent trail and paw prints until they finally reached the bramble wall. He let the pup go in first, he followed close behind. Once he crawled through, she ran underneath him, overwhelmed by the amount of wolves in here.
"You'll be alright, come with me, we'll go see somebody." Igneous nudged the petrified pup towards the herbalist den, he had a sneaking suspicion that this is the pup Tarantula was looking for.
As soon as the pup and Igneous entered the herbal grotto, the pup looked around and gasped as she saw Tarantula. The little she-pup ran forward, squealing and whining as she licked at Tarantula's face, both she-wolves excited to see the other as much as the other one. Igneous' heart was warmed, he had reunited two pack mates after who knows how long. It was remarkable how a pup managed to survive a few nights out in the Conifers.
A few hours later, Igneous checked on the two again, a warm smile spread across his face when he saw the pup curled up against Tarantula, who was also curled up around the pup. He decided to leave the two alone, he sighed and left the den, reminded of his own puphood.
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