Ilmenite

All her life , Ilmenite had lived with her parents, Indigo and Thunder. Not in a clan or pack, just them. They told her many stories of their old pack, a ''dismal enviroment that discourages critical thinking'' ; thats how her mother always described it. When she was a pup, she constantly asked about why the weather changed. Thunder asked her parents, her siblings, her elders but no matter who she asked, they all said that She made it happen. Being unsatisfied with the answer, she went out in a storm one night to examine the sky! Ilmenite's eyes widened in disbelief the first time she heard that story. ''That happened?'' Ilmenite asked. ''Yeah, our leader decided that she couldnt take food from the prey pile that evening. It didnt stop me from sharing my rabbit with her'' commented her father. He always watched the stars when he was in the pack. The other wolves thought he was very spiritual since to them, every star was a soul with no body. "They genuinely thought I had a gift until- her father stopped to giggle. "until I told them that I liked how the shiny stars contrasted the dark sky!" Her parent's thirst for knoledge about why the sky changed and what came after it meant that she had a destiny. (Though her parents never believed in the concept of destiny) "I'll make a clan and figure out the mysteries of the sky!" she said with fire in her eyes. "Ilmenite, you dont have to do such a thing, we arent making you" said her mother. "I really want to though, I'll find the answers and we'll finally know'' "You know what? You go do that, Im too old to come with you" Ilmenite knew that Thunder was desperate for hope since Indigo died a moon ago. They cuddled up together that night and in the morning, Ilmenite left for her journey.

November 30th of 2023
Ilmenite gave her partner soft pats, as she usually did to awake her. Nothing.
''Someone's a sleepyhead, come on! You're pupsitting shift is up soon!'
....
She shook her repeatedly. She stayed lifeless. It was like shaking a log. Or like shaking a cor-

No, no, no. Thats not happening, thats not happening that's not happening-

Ilmenite woke up in the medicine den, with the taste of healing salve on her lips.

''Good, you're awake.'' said Crescent

''What happenened to her?!'' she said, immediately sitting up

Crescent stared with a sullen gaze.

''Mother is...I checked and rechecked her but she's-''

''-Alive? Ok? Doing well?'' interjected Ilmenite, as if willing those words to come out of Crescent's mouth

"She resides in the sky now...." said Herbert

''But- she wasn't supposed to- I--''

''It's unusual that she died at this age. We've determined that a heart attack claimed her in her sleep..." said Crescent

She curled up with Olivine for a few hours more, a burial ceremony happened, her and Olivine's pups said wonderful things about them, she got to bury her but...

After, she had to keep being leader, keep on bringing her pack to greatness. But how could this pack ever be great without Olivine in it...?

Wednesday October 9th 2024
A dissappearance...Scouts where sent out. They found her. At the base of a mountain. Ilmenite almost wished they didn't, Imenite almost wished she could just pretend her daughter ran away, that she was on some big adventure somewhere. There was no room for denial though. Not when Moss' lifeless body was right in front of her.

"At least she is with her other mum now" Ilmenite told herself, eyes glazed over with sadness, the little comfort she got from that helped her through the rest of that dark day.

Saturday Febuary 1st 2025
Ilmenite layed in the squalor of old moss, bones of her past meals strewn about and leaves and sticks that had blown into her cave. For the fith day in a row. Her, the leader of Skies Beyond was about as useless as a thorn in a nest. She was sure Cheesecake would correct her and say she was just grieving though. It was not just grief that kept her inside, however. It was also fear. Fear that as soon as she stepped outside, The Nameless One would try something new, take someone else…

Why does it even do it?!

She slutched her head in mental anguish.

Five of her puppies, the love of her life…the tragedy of her daughter was not the Nameless One's doing but still another burden of grief to bear. And the most recent one… her youngest son. What did Crescent ever do to deserve this?! In fact, none of them did anything to deserve it and yet they still…

She swiped at the ground in a fit of rage and managed to hurl a whole chunk of dirt on to her collection. None of that mattered though, she kept going with no clear purpose other than to direct her energy at something.

She calmed down and looked around, her cave looked as if raccoons had raided it.

No one will think I'm fit to lead if they see this…Maybe, I'm not anymore.

Ilmenite was getting older now, after all. She was no longer able to climb rocks as comfortably now, after all.

A plan materialized itself in front of her. Her heir. Training one would be a responsible thing to do for Skies Beyond! (And provide a good distraction from all the tragedy…)

She organised her den so it'd look at least halfway presentable. Then she stared at the entrance and…fear gripped her once again. Then, Ilmenite closed her eyes and did something she never thought she'd do.

The Nameless One, and Arengee…are you there? Are you listening? Please do not let more tragedy befall my pack. I beg

Ilmenite opened her eyes after transmitting her thoughts. The anxiety that gripped her was manageable now. She finally stepped outside, ready to be everyone's leader once again.