Moon’Star

1

"You can't seriously think of leaving!" Cried a she-wolf, her sharp voice cutting the nighttime silence like a knife.
"Of course I'm leaving!" A second voice, also female, yelled back. "This pack is no longer the place it used to be, can't you see that?!"
"What is wrong with you?" The first wolf snarled back. "Our pack is perfectly fine!" She advanced on the second smaller wolf with her teeth bared, and the latter backed away a few steps, bristling.
"Your pack," the smaller she-wolf corrected with a scared calmness. "And no, it's not fine. didn't you see what they did to Snapdragon? Have you seen the bruises on the pups? Have you seen the bruises on you?"
The first wolf raised her hide, making her almost tower over the smaller wolf. Under the moonlight, making her shadow look like a beast out of the shadows, and her dark fur shine like the most precious of silvers.
It also revealed the scars that lined her pelt.
"That was just a punishment." The wolf said, brushing off the second she-wolf's statement. "The pack is starving after all. And we didn't bring back enough prey."
"Yeah," the second wolf shot back, "a punishment that cost Mountainspeckle his life!"
"He deserved it!" The first wolf interrupted. "That stupid Elk-Brain knew the consequences, and he stilll slacked off!" She closed in on the second wolf until she backed into a tree. "You should know better, too."
The second wolf swallowed a whimper and straightened until she was eye to eye with her packmate. "I do know better."
And she swung a paw into the side of her face.

Moonhaven had now left the Deciduous Forest, as well as left her mother and former packmates behind. It was for the best. She kept reminding herself. However, she would constantly wonder afterward if she should've convinced Nightwood to come with her.
Moonhaven pricked her ears up as a rustle of leaves came from behind her. A cold chill running up her spine told her all she needed to know. Someone's watching me.
And just like that, a black wolf appeared out of the bushes.
Moonhaven warily watched the stranger as she casually came up to her.
"Hello." The wolf said, blinking slowly at Moonhaven.
"Hello…" Moonhaven said cautiously back. "Can I help you?"
"Actually," the wolf said, "I'm here to help you."
"…What?"
The wolf dipped her head at her. "I am Tala. I help wolves like you start your own pack." Tala tilted her head at Moonhaven. "And you are…?"
Start my own pack? Moonhaven thought. On one paw, starting her own pack could go very wrong and everyone would die and the puppies will starve and she will be banished for being such a horrible leader and—
…Or on the other paw, she would be a great leader and everything will go great.
"I am…Moonstar." Moonhaven said, trying out a pack leader's name. Moonstar. She thought. I like it.
"Nice to meet you, Moonstar." Tala said with a warm smile. Then the she-wolf turned and trotting north. "Let's pick out your territory."

Territory picking was surprisingly easy. Moonstar just chose the territory that allowed her to see the stars best. AKA the Grasslands.
"Good choice." Tala said, nodding a bit too vigorously.
Moonstar smirked. "What's next?" The young new leader asked.
"A pack is not a pack without its members." Tala said. "It is time for you to find your first pack member. And fortunately for you, it's going to be very easy." The wise she-wolf turned her head front, and Moonstar followed her gaze.
Sure enough, standing before them was a wolf with the darkest pelt Moonstar had ever seen, darker than the coldest of moonless nights. This wolf was made even more beautiful with her firey yellow-orange eyes, which stood out and contrasted with her pitch black fur like a sore thumb.
Wait, what are thumbs?
Moonstar caught herself staring at this wolf for a minute too long.
"Blink." Tala said. Moonstar blinked, then blinked again, then shook herself to get out of her trance. What was that? she wondered to herself.
"Um-hello." The new wolf said.
"Now's your chance." Tala whispered in her ear.
Moonstar nodded. She stepped closer to the newcomer, leaning forward slightly to catch the wolf's scent. She smelled of rain and pineneedles.
"Hi," Moonstar said, putting on a friendly smile. "Would you like to join my pack?"
"Is that what you were talking about?" New wolf said. "Cool!" The wolf's tail twitched back and forth in thought. "I gueeesss I'll join." She suddenly leaned towards Moonstar, who could now feel the wolf's warmth. "What do you think of kangaroos?" She whispered fiercely.
"W…what's a kangaroo?" Moonstar asked.
"Answer the question." The wolf said with wide eyes.
"Umm…" Said Moonstar. "Yeeess?"
The wolf breaks into a big grin. Moonstar opened her mouth, probably to ask why this wolf was asking, but was caught off guard by her jumping forward to nuzzle Moonstar's neck fur.
"Then I'm joining!" The wolf yelped cheerily. As her tail wagged back and forth, Moonstar couldn't help but feel a little giddy. It might've been from the nervousness and excitement from starting a pack of her own, but she brushed the feeling aside. "So what's your name?" She asked the wolf.
"I'm Cinder!" The wolf yipped, her tail now going as fast as a windmill (what's a windmill? Moonstar asked herself). "What's your name?"
"I'm Moonstar." Moonstar replied with a tender smile.
"What a strange name." Cinder said, "I mean, it's strange in a good way." She added quickly. "Sorry."
"Hehe," Moonstar chuckled. "No worries. It's just that the pack where I came from has a naming system that contains both prefixes and suffixes."
"Oh. Cool!"