Chapter 1: Family and Friends

[Syra]

"Where is she?!" A black wolf growled. His blue eyes shined bright threw the pitch black night. A brown male walked up to the black wolf.
"i don't know..." he lowered his blue eyes, which matched the black wolf's.
"M'skei, follow her sent, i'll get Blackhawk and silver to search the boarder." The black male shook his head.
"Wither..." Another black male with white legs stepped forward. Wither turned towards Blackhawk
"what? what is it?!" he asked, his voice was filled with concern and worry. Blackhawk looked at his team mate, Silver, a silver brindled male.
" we followed her sent..." Silver stopped. Blackhawk sighed.
"She traveled outside the territory...again" Blackhawk finished. Wither looked at M'skei...his son, they both let out a sigh.
"ugh....Syra..."

                                                                  ~


Later that morning, the sun was just now up. The golden light shined down upon the beautiful forest. A howl echoed the forest only to be responded by another howl except this how was deep and rougher.
Wither busted threw bushes, Blackhawk, Silver and M'skei following. Wither's fur was bristled as he saw the other pack leader. Between then a black female with gold eyes stared at him back...
Syra lowered her ears when she saw her dad. he was mad. Madder then usual. Wither marched over to her, Silver and M'skei following.
"Take her home....NOW!" he snarled angrily. M'skei nodded and walked next to his sister. Silver on the other side. They entered their territory and M'skei let out a sigh.
"Father is going to eat you alive one day." The brown wolf responded. The female scoffed and rolled her eyes.


Her brother looked at her. "Thats the attitude that gets you in trouble!" M'skei narrowed her eyes, already getting annoyed by his sister. Syra ignored him and looked at the forest. It was beautiful. The sun's rays dappled the forest floor that was spotted with freshly fallen leaves.
The trees where tall and thick, they stood proud and heathly, wildlife filled their limbs.
Syra sighed peacefully as they came to the famous waterfall, which had a thundering but yet peacefull sound.

"Are you listening to me?" M'skei said. Syra looked at her sibling. Her annoying sibling.
"What?" she responded flicking her ears.
"What if a bear got you?! or Rouge wolves?" He tilted his head.
"I dont know and really dont care" she responded quickly. M'skei stopped. right under the old oak tree. Syra rolled her eyes and went into a small slit in the tree. she turned and crawled under roots, to soon come out into a beautiful opening, rocks perfectly carved and cut out into perfectly shaped rooms. A small pool of fresh water was in the middle of the camp. Diamonds and crystals shined brightly above them, sometimes shining beautiful lights in the caves. Right behind the waterfall itself. A red she-wolf ran up.
"Syra!" she said in a worry tone.
"Hi mom.."Syra lowered her ears and did a shy smile. "where have you been?? You've been gone all night" He chocolate brown eyes where filled with worried.

"I was..uh..umm OUT!" Syra perked up smiling happily. wagging her tail, her gold eyes shining bright. Her mother narrowed her brown eyes and looked at her son, who just shook his head and walked off.
"Your dad is going to kill you." She said. Syra narrowed her eyes and then rolled them
"Why is everyone sayin that?" she said watching her brother walk off.

[Neun & Zehn]

Yin & Yang

Bleary green eyes fluttered open as they adjusted to the soft, early morning light. He glances around in confusion, trying to recollect their whereabouts. Ah, that's right. He and Neun were traveling through the mountains. Zehn glances at the snow powdering his sister's fur. He can hardly see it, her fur is already so white as it is. His sister sleeps on despite him awaking, and Zehn stands up to shake off the last traces of sleep from his body. He can see parts of the valley from where he stands. He can see the thick forests dappling the land, and the darker parts that are covered in thick mud. Zehn hasn't visited the swamps yet, but he wonders if thats the next place they should check.

There were survivors. Surely they're around somewhere, right? Not all of them could have become those monster's pets...

"Zehn." A familiar, soft voice breaks Zehn from his increasingly frustrating thoughts. The male wolf's head swivels in the voice's direction, and his bright green eyes meet with his sister's-- the white wolf still lying in the snow.

Even though she had been sleeping moments ago, she was alert. He lets out a huff, pushing those nagging thoughts away to get a better look at his sibling. "Did I wake you?"

"No," The female wolf lies, moving to stand. Her legs wobble with effort, and Neun struggles to keep her soreness and fatigue a secret. She knows why her brother is making them travel far and wide. She wants the same as him, but Zehn is letting it eat him from the inside out. That pains her more than the stiffness in her joints. Zehn can't see through Neun's lies when she really tries to deceive him, so the male wolf lets it go.

Neun never asks her sibling where they are headed next. Zehn can't always respond. He just goes where his mind tells him. Now, it's the swamps. They silently prepare to leave the mountain side. Neun liked the mountains ever since they first arrived. It was quiet, and beautiful, in a lonely way. She was aware they wouldn't stay here long, but she enjoyed the snow and the sunshine and the fresh air to her hearts desire.

Zehn was about to speak until something echoed in his ear. His hair stood on end, and he immediately wanted to growl; but refrained from doing so.

"Neun," Zehn warns. He uses a tone that specifically means, 'run'. They both bolt away from their resting places, leaving the mountain hunter behind in the kicked up snow. Just them running away isn't enough to get rid of a hunter. Zehn and Neun know that. The hunter will give chase until they escape, or are dead.

Being loners without a pack to belong to is extremely hard sometimes. After the destruction of Perdere, Zehn had the strong urge to collect all their old pack members and build a new pack from the ground up. Zehn wants that, but he also doesn't like putting Neun in danger.

He's tried to convince her into joining a pack so she will be safe, but Neun wouldn't be his sister if she wasn't stubborn. It's hard to want two completely opposite things, but Zehn is trying to balance it. He runs by his sister's side through the bleached snow, both wolves keeping perfect pace with each other.

As suspected, the hunter doesn't let up until they're at the bottom of the mountains, where the snow is melted and the ground is muddy. Neun pants silently as she comes to a trot, but Zehn still doesn't feel right.

"Keep moving." He urges, keeping himself at a slower run. The both of them have traveled through pack territories before, but their scents are stale before anyone tries to track them. Neither of them have come in contact with the supposedly wolf sanctuary. Zehn has heard whispers of it, but never anything more. It also frustrates him to the point of lashing out, but if he tries hard enough, he'll find them. Then he wont have to drag Neun into danger and keep her safe.

[Joey]

The morning was warmer than usual. It was still cold, but the sun seemed to be bearing down on Orso much harder since he had woke. This was a good thing.

Orso had fallen asleep gorging himself on a large wild berry bush. This bush in particular was exceptionally tart and Orso always said "the more tart the berries, the better the day." Orso had decided that before he'd begin his daily rounds that he should ingest a few more berries. If only to ensure he does not starve today, which didn't seem to be much of a problem in this area as there were few signs of other bears.

Orso had buried his face deep within the bush in order to get the ripest berries. Only half of the bear was protruding from the rather large bush. Orso heard the sound of something approaching fast. He perked his ears and turned his head. A swift flash of light streaked past his vision. His head still buried within the berry bush, Orso noticed a black shape  following behind the white one. The bear decided to come out from his breakfast to investigate and as he did so he suddenly found himself face to face with a human.

Orso knew humans were dangerous. They were the only real threat to a bear and he had heard stories of many large and powerful bears falling to packs of humans. This one appeared to be alone however. The human was small and seemed paralyzed with fear. The human had a green and brown coloration to it. Orso wasn't sure what to do. The human was very close to him. Orso decided he would stand. As Orso reared up onto his hind legs he let out a loud roar and raised his paws. The human shook where he stood and turned tail. It ran ran and quickly vanished into the trees.

Orso dropped to all fours once he lost sight of the human and began moving to investigate the black and white figures which had most likely been running from the human. The brown bear guessed it was probably wolves, but he couldn't be certain until he drew closer. Wolves could be dangerous, but only in large numbers and generally they left Orso alone. He had always wanted to talk to a wolf, but they were very elusive and kept to themselves mostly.

[Syra]

Syra rolled her eyes as her mother and brother walked off.
"Syra.." a deep voice came from behind her. She closed her eyes and stood still. she then put on a guilty grin and turned around to face her father and his piercing blue eyes.
"Oh hey father" She said smiling in his face as if she didn't do anything wrong.
"Syra. Don't pull the innocent look. Your trespassed into another territory!" he straighten up, narrowing his eyes.
"The eastern Territory, in fact. Those Wolves are not friendly. Syra you could of been killed. By wolves, a hunter or a bear!" His rough voice started to get soft.

"Like bears eat wolves. I bet i can make a friend with a bear." She responded in a cocky tone which caused her father to growl.
"You stay away from a bear, i dont care if it seems like the nicest thing alive, probably eat a small wolf like yourself." He lowered his ears.
"don't you dare ignore me young lady" He stepped forward, his tail up. It clearly showed that he was dominant. Syra rolled her eyes.
"I'm two!' She snapped.
"and you still act like a pup! Grow up and act more like you brother, at least he doesnt disappoint me..." Wither lowered his head and stared at his golden eye daughter. Syra's mouth dropped and her eyes went wide. She then growled and went into her father's face.

"Im a disappointment?! Is that what i am to you?!" she then took off. she slide into the small opening and dove under roots and slipped out from the old oak. She closed her eyes as she ran. Her eyes felt watery and her heart seemed to hurt. she quickly slide to a stop.
The Blue River. Syra stared foreward and slowly took steps till her paws landed on the soft white sand. Her black fur stuck out. The though of her father mad her a bit mad.
Syra knew the rules about crossing the river.
Don't cross the river...danger lies on the other side. Syra stared into the beautiful blue water. She shouldn't but...she was going to.

The young she-wolf looked around checking to see if anyone is around then jumped to the nearest rock. Still fuming about her father to really know what she was doing.
"disappointment my tail." she grumbled as she hopped to another rock, until she got to the middle of the river. Realizing what she was doing she froze on the rock.
"WHAT AM I DOING?!" she shouted out loud. She was a awful swimmer and that thought crawled in her head. Her claws scraped the rock as she started to slip. Her golden eyes went wide as she lost her grip and slipped into the freezing water.

The water was fast, the currant pulling at the wolf's body as she was under. Pebbles tickled the pads on her hind legs. it was all quiet, peaceful almost until the thought of not seeing her parents again. Despite always be angry at them, she loved them dearly.
Push upThe thought jumped in her head. She planted her hind legs on the rocky bottom then pushed with all her might. Her black head broke the surface, she threw back her head and let out a loud howl, before being pulled back under...

[Neun & Zehn]

Location >> outside Riverfall territory <<

Neither of the twins ever look back when they run. The less they see, the better. It's always hunters anyways. It has been for the past two and a half years. When the loud roar resonates in both of the wolves ear's, they skid to a stop and turn.

"Was that..?" Neun asks, and Zehn doesn't miss the curiosity in her tone. She's always been one to investigate things. Not good, Zehn thinks. A bear, however. The male wolf can't decide if it's bad luck or just really good timing for a large animal like that to show up and scare away the threat. Zehn hasn't come in contact with a bear before. Two sets of green eyes watch the brush intently, waiting if they should run off or see if it's safe.

"If I tell you to run, run."

"Don't be rash, Zehn. I refuse." Neun replies to the black wolf with an unaffected tone.

Both Neun and Zehn can hear the breathing of the large bear. It doesn't sound like it's in a huge rush to inspect the event, but Zehn waits, standing stone still and slightly in front of the white female. Neun huffs, obviously annoyed at her brother being in the way.

Did the bear end up leaving? Zehn knows that Neun will only scold him if he growls or does anything aggressive. Damn. He doesn't feel so hot about this situation.

[Joey]

Orso rounds a tree and finds himself entering a small clearing. He was quite pleased with the hunters reaction to his display. Most animals left bears alone. The animals that were brave enough to communicate with him found that Orso was only a threat to berries and fish. He disliked the taste of red meat, unless it was cooked by humans and he was no good at catching birds. Orso kept to a diet of berries, low hanging fruit and fish. This area was pelntiful with salmon and a few other fish species.

Orso looked up to see a pitch black wolf and a snow white one. The black wolf appeared to be guarding the white wolf. Orso smiled and waved. He did his best to appear non threatening, but he knew little of wolf social customs.

"Hi there." Orso said pleasantly. He really hoped the two wolves would not run away. They always ran when he tried to talk to wolves. He only hoped they didn't run and get their pack, though that had never actually happened to him.

Before there was any response given, Orso's ears perked up and he heard the sound of a faint cry off in the distance. He wondered what it could be.

[Syra]

Water started to slip down the she wolf's nose. The cold water was now clawing at her skin. Syra opened her eyes, now just staring at the surface.
A hard smack accured on the back of her head.

~
Syra opened her eyes. Her vision slightly blurry from the hit to the head. The smell of leaves filled her water logged nose. A cough then escaped her. Water came from her mouth and leaked from her black nose. She rested her head.. The soft grass embraced her head. The 2 two year old she wolf grown, exhausted from fighting the river.

A new smell crawled in her nose.. This wasn't her territory... Her heart then jumped. It wasn't claimed either, more like for free roamers. Her eyes looked behind her. She was on the other side if the river. She sat up slowly and shook the freezing drops from her pelt. She spotted berries and fruit around the area.

" I have a feeling I'm gonna make some delightful friends." She smiled to herself.

[Neun & Zehn]

Location >> outside Riverfall territory <<

Neun;s eyes light up in secret curiosity as a large bear steps out from the brush, and the white female wants to communicate desperately, but Zehn is frozen in place in front of her, tail swishing defiantly. It brushes her nose a few times and Neun's ears twitch in annoyance. The bear greets them, possibly in the friendliest manner Neun has ever witnessed.

For what seems like the umpteenth time, Zehn's black fur tickles Neun's nose and she lurches forwards and snaps, successfully clamping her jaw over the swishing tail. Zehn lets out a pained wail, sidestepping and whirling around, looking betrayed.

Neun releases once her brother moves out of the way, raising her head slightly in triumph. The white wolf brings her gaze back to the bear, who has not made any attempt to charge at them.

"Hello," Her green eyes glint, reflecting the early light. The animal is huge and covered in thick fur, giving the bear a menacing look Neun is uneasy around, but her want to converse with a bear is far too great. Zehn grumbles, but he doesn't get in between his sister again. He knows just how stubborn she is about something like this, and if she gets the opportunity to do something, she'll go for it headfirst.

[Joey]

Orso watched in fascination as the two wolves battled briefly over whether to acknowledge him or not. To his delight, the white wolf was victorious and spoke.

"Hello," She said. Her voice was beautiful and hinted that she was not from this area. Still, it was soft and made him feel welcomed.

Orso stepped forward with a smile across his face. He made sure not to get too close. He had never spoken to a wolf before and still wasn't sure what could happen. He did feel at ease now that words had been exchanged, however.

"My name is Orso. It is nice to meet you." He said as he sat down.

[Leman Russ]

A growl echoes out, though it didnt come from his chest. Russ' stomach had been empty for what felt like weeks. He was certain his ribs could be seen under his skin. Even so he held himself with air of pride as he pads along the river banks, his ears swiveling atop his head and his nose turned upwards slightly, searching for ecen the faintest trace of a meal.

Finally he catches something, the scent of a rabbit. His head lowers as he searches for the trail, though it wasnt long before he was stalking upon the small creature and with a bark and a blur of grey his powerful jaws clamped shut on the rabbit's neck.

Russ doesn't bother with dragging his kill away to a safe spot as he lays on his belly to eat, ripping into the carcass hungrily, not even having noticed the young black she-wolf he had landed near.

[Syra]

Syra was startled by the sudden movement of a rabbit and another wolf. The black female stood frozen as the male snapped it's neck and began to tear it apart. She watched the starving wolf devour his meal.

Syra looked around, her ears slanted backwards and one eye brow was slightly raised. She never seen a starving wolf not a owl that tore and ripped a part it's meal.
" wow someone is hungry" she perked her ears then chuckled.

[Neun & Zehn]

Location >> outside Riverfall territory <<

It makes the white she-wolf rather gleeful at the continuation of friendly discussion, but it irks Zehn. They.. no, he has a mission. It's important, so much so that Zehn doesn't see the time for idle chit-chat, especially with a large, full scale bear. Zehn doesnt agree to his sister's willingness to talk to could quite possibly become an enemy. Zehn's bright green eyes narrow in distrust.

"I agree. It's refreshing to meet someone. I am Neun, this is my brother Zehn." Neun has always been the polite and stoic one between the two of them. Zehn is so brash and completely opposite of his sibling, that some can't even fathom how they are related. It's the steep differences that make them balance each other out so well.

The balance shows better more times than others. It looks like irritation, or just plain not getting along, but it's not that way. Not to them, at least. All they've had since the fall of Perdere, is each other. Separating them would be equivalent to tearing Yin from Yang in some retrospects. Both wolves would most likely deny the metaphor.

"Neun, this isn't the time--" The white wolf takes none of it. Zehn has always had this timer in his head. If he doesn't find the survivors, he will fail some sort of mission. Neun is an expert at figuring her brother out, but when it comes down to the trauma the fire brought, it's just a blunt mystery. Not a clue.

Who is her brother afraid of disappointing?

"Give it a rest for now, Zehn. We've been travelling, as far and wide as you wish. Be civil, for once." Neun is a blunt wolf. At least, to Zehn she is. Everything about the white female practically yells, 'balance' and 'serene'. Zehn rarely ever finds fury in her eyes, but he's positive even the deities would shiver at her presence, if it even happened.

Neun knocks her brother forwards. "Don't be rude." She murmurs.

The two of them never knew who was born first. Zehn usually just listens to his sister because he has no other choice. Neun would be more than thrilled to stay and talk with Orso. Zehn knows it because it's his sister, and he's always been the more eccentric one.

"..Zehn." He murmurs, parroting what Neun had said earlier. What was he supposed to say to a bear anyway? Nonetheless, Neun is pleased with her sibling's awkward introduction.

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