Skyberry (Deceased)

Skyberry: The Little Berry

Skyberry is a pale blue pup born to alpha Cherry Root. She has sapphire blue eyes like her grandfather She is the firstborn daughter of the alpha, and despite this, was born very sickly like the rest of her littermates. Their mother was an elderly wolf before they were born, and was still old after their birth. Due to their mother's age, Cherry Root forced another wolf to care for her pups where they could grow up healthier.

Her adoptive mother was Astra, a sacrifice of the pack. Astra wasn't very fond of Skyberry since she was a pretty distant, aloof wolf in the pack. That was especially because she wasn't supposed to form any bonds with anyone in the pack. Still, she had to raise Skyberry alongside her other three pups by herself. It was either that or she would have to face a fate worse than death if Skyberry ever died in her care.



Once Skyberry and her siblings turned a month old, they were able to see each other and their mother again for a few hours. Skyberry was still not as strong as her littermates, but she is much more healthy now. At their family reunion, Skyberry got to talk to her paternal grandmother (Kumo) and see her younger aunt and uncle. She even got to see Queen Daybreak (Cherry Root's grand aunt), and her two newborn daughters. Skyberry was excited to meet all of her family that was in the pack, and it certainly wasn't small. Even her great grandfather Ura, from her father's side of the family, is still alive, and she got to greet him too.

Berry Jam

Skyberry was approaching 5 months old. She was still shaken by the death of sister, Shiruku. Although she never got to see what happened to her, the news of her passing was enough to leave her feeling pretty down. Her sister, Cherry Blossoms was there to console her along with their mother and aunties. Golden Sun, their younger relative, was also there for Skyberry to keep her company. Despite the emotional support she had, the young pup never quite acted the same. Her happy attitude was now gone.

Gore Warning Ahead

SpoilerIt was mid summer, and the days were still pretty hot in the grasslands. It was midday, and Skyberry was resting with Golden Sun after spending an hour training with her remaining siblings. They rested underneath a large cedar tree of the cluster near the treeline. Skyberry's older brother, Akira approached the two females with a neutral expression.

"Golden Sun, your mother wishes to see you at the alpha's burrow." Akira looked directly towards the golden yellow and white pup. She nodded at his words, saying goodbye to Skyberry before making her way deeper into the cedar tree cluster. Akira then turned to his sister, giving her a polite smile.

"Skyberry, do you want to try some of these?" He dropped something that was hiding under his tongue. They were bright red berries, which Akira proudly presented to Skyberry. The two had already gone through training to determine poisonous from edible plants, so Skyberry was reasonably skeptical of the berries Akira had.

"Clover said those berries are poisonous. Why do you have them?" Skyberry gave Akira a skeptical look, tilting her head. Akira simply smiled before responding. "These are cranberries. I heard they go well with turkeys!" His cheerful attitude seemed to ease Skyberry's nerves. "How about we eat this in the burrow? I'll see if I can get a quail as a turkey replacement," her brother said with a wagging tail, seemingly excited to eat this with her. Skyberry nodded, giving him a small smile as she carefully picked up the berries in her mouth.

Once the meal was set in the pup's burrow, the freshly plucked quail had the "cranberry" juice rubbed all over it. Akira nudged the food to his sister, smiling warmly at her. "You can have the first bite. Let me know if it tastes good!" Skyberry gave him a silent nod, tearing a chunk of the quail's meat that had more "cranberry" juice on it than the others. "It tastes a bit sour," Skyberry said with a shudder. She wasn't a big fan of the taste. What she didn't know was that the cranberries were swapped out for nightshade berries shortly after the quail was plucked in another burrow. Before Akira could touch the quail, he heard Golden Sun call out to him. He excused himself and promptly left the den, leaving Skyberry alone.

A few minutes after eating her fill, Skyberry began to feel dizzy. Nausea kicked in shortly after. Soon, the pup was retching up her food violently, even after there was nothing left to vomit up. Her stomach was in immense pain as she cried out. The nightshade berries were already taking effect on her tiny body. An adult quickly rushed into the burrow after hearing her cries. They knew something was off so they quickly took the pup to Clover, the pack's temporary herbalist.

Clover the albino had limited knowledge on herbs, so she couldn't do much for Skyberry other than give her water and plants to induce vomiting. That way, she could hopefully get rid of the poison in her system. It was too late for Skyberry, however. Her vomit turned to blood as she began convulsing in the herbalist's den just 15 minutes after eating the poisoned quail. That was when Cherry Root finally showed up to see the awful state her daughter was in. There was nothing the pack could do for her now other than relieve her of her suffering.

With her own teeth, Cherry Root snapped the neck of Skyberry. It was over for the pup in a matter of seconds.

Akira and Golden Sun were promptly questioned by Cherry Root shortly after. The other adults knew the three were together at one point before Skyberry's poisoning, and she wanted answers. Akira claimed he put cranberries on a quail carcass to give to his sister, but was called over by Golden Sun before he could have a bite. Cherry Root was somewhat relieved to hear that he avoided eating the carcass, but that didn't make her feel much better over the death of another pup of hers.

Akira received a scolding for not knowing he used poisonous berries instead of cranberries, while Golden Sun got off the hook easily. This fueled a fire inside Akira, especially since his mother decided to place him under strict supervision of his step-mother.

After the burial ceremony, the alpha had all the pups in the pack be taught which plants were unsafe and which plants were in the hopes to prevent more deaths like Skyberry's.