Chapter 11: Chapter 11
Time passed, and the wolf-dogs had settled nicely into the Nightlights pack. Rider had proven himself to be a good fighter, so Nightlight promoted him to Zeta, lead warrior. Earth had been good at hunting and tracking, along with being a good leader in her own way. So, Nightlight made her Delta: Third in command and lead hunter. The rest of their family had made it to be warriors and patrols. It was late winter and Blue, Akela and Kiba were adolescents now. Kiba's personality still wasn't the same.
He still liked to stroll out on his own, and he started to become colder towards his family. Blue and Akela worried for him, and so did his parents. Nightlight worried the most, his son was becoming independent. But he had Akela to look after too, and so far Akela was showing the traits of being a good alpha.
Blue's feelings for him continued to grow, and soon he started to have feelings for her, but neither of them told each other what they felt. Since they were old enough to be trained in certain things, Nightlight arranged Earth to teach them some hunting and tracking skills of her own.
Earth was sitting on a small snowy hill as she spoke to the young wolves. "Now...I know you all have different skill sets of your own. So, I'm going to see what you all share differently. We'll start with Akela." Akela padded forward and lowered his head respectfully. Kiba snorted softly. Earth ignored him and went on, "Akela, I have found a few rabbit burrows east of here, I want to see how you would catch one by yourself. Then, I'll give you some tips if I see something you missed."
Akela nodded. "Of course Earth, I'll do my best." His voice had that teenage hint in it. His voice wasn't going to be full until he was a young adult. Since he was a teenager, his voice was only starting to deepen. Earth nodded, and jumped off the hill. "Follow me." she says as she pads east, the young ones behind her. When they reached the rabbits, they were hopping around, scavenging what grass and twigs they could find. She nodded to Akela, and he walked around her.
He crouched behind a tree, his ears low and his eyes fixed on a rabbit that had separated itself from the others. He slowly stalked it, making his paws land on the softest part of the snow. A twig snapped under his paw and he stopped dead in his tracks. The rabbits looked up in alarm. Their noses twitched, their whiskers bristling. Then they lowered themselves again. Akela resumed his pace, stalking closer to the rabbit. He was about a good stride away when it looked up and stared at him.
He sprang from his posture, and ran after it. The rabbit made its way for the nearest borrow, but tripped and stumbled and Akela caught it under his paw, it squirmed to get out from under his grip, it squealed and he could smell it's fear. He curled his lips back and sank his teeth into his fluffy neck. It stopped squirming almost instantly, and he picked it up in his jaws and carried it to the others.
Earth nodded. "Well done, I see how you managed to stalk it. In the future, make sure you put your back paws where you stepped with your front paws. It'll make you even quieter." Akela dropped the rabbit at his paws and let himself smile. Earth looked to Blue. "It's your turn now Blue...you think you'd be able to outsmart a fox?" Blue looked amused. "A fox? Where am I going to find a fox?"
Earth chuckled. "It won't be hard...I killed a deer around here. Foxes tend to steal food from bigger predators. I bet there'll be one there. Come on." she padded past them, south of the rabbit burrows. A few minutes later, Earth gave them a soft bark to stop. Sure enough, the deer carcass was right in front of them, and a red fox was eating from it. Earth nodded to Blue...she broke away from her and the brothers, and padded up to the fox. It didn't even notice her approach, until Blue barked.
It turned to her, it's small fangs bared. "Pesky wolf...stay away." it snarled. Blue wasn't easy to chase away. She bared her teeth at it. The fox puffed itself up, it's tail straight in the air. "Best be off before I make you smelly wolf. Can't fight my hunger." Blue growled low in her throat. "Coming from a predator who likes to steal kills…" she snarls back. The fox snarled and pounced at her, biting into her neck and holding on tight. Blue, with her thick fur, was hardly hurt. She swung her head until she had the fox in her jaws. It yelped and snarled, but Blue would not let go.
She tightened her grip and shook the fox until she tired herself out. Blood came from her mouth, it ran down the foxes body, it's eyes were glossy and still. Blue turned to Earth and the boys, and Earth gave a nod. "It seems that fox didn't want to give that up. Well done Blue."
She dropped the fox at her paws and let her tail wag. Akela walked up to her. "Nice job. Well done." he says kindly. Blue smiled. "Thanks Akela…" He gave her ear an affectionate lick. She blushed and looked away. Kibe scoffed. "What about me? What am I going to hunt?"
Earth turned to him. "I'm thinking of a coyote for you. Coyotes are spiteful, yet they can be territorial if it comes to it." Kiba scowled but said nothing. Earth looked at Akela and Blue. "Come, let's see if we can find one." They both barked and split off. An hour later, Blue barked. "I've picked up the scent trail of one. A male...he's not far from here. I'd say southeast."
Earth nodded. "Kiba...follow Blue. We'll be right behind you." Kiba just nodded and padded behind Blue. After a few minutes, they found the coyote resting under a tree. It managed to dig under the snow-covered branches and made itself a den. Kiba didn't even wait for Earth to tell him to go. He ran up and snarled.
The coyote flew open its eyes at once, only seeing Kiba's teeth bared and sinking into its neck. It barked and whined, but slowly, it became very still and heavy with death. Kiba let go, and let his tongue loll. Earth sighed. "You should have waited for me to tell you when to go."Kiba turned around, his tail tip flicked. "I don't see the point in hunting coyotes. Unless they're stealing from us. I basically just killed an innocent one."
Earth scratched her ear. "That may be true...but you could've waited for me to signal you." Kiba was about to object, but Earth continued. "We'll deal with that later. Now it's time for me to test your tracking skills." She turned to Blue. "Blue...sweetheart, I need you to run as far away as you can, until you're out of sight. Pick a spot and wait there. When one of the boys finds you, howl for me."
Blue nodded. "Yes Earth." She turned and bolted off, out of sight in a matter of seconds. Earth looked at the brothers. "You guys ready?" Akela bent down, ready to bolt. Kiba did the same. "On my word...go!" The boys sprang off together, Akela was quite fast, and he left Kiba in the dust. He put his nose down and smelled. Blue's paw-prints weren't mistakable, and neither was her scent. He could tell she purposely ran in different directions to confuse them.
After about an hour of sniffing and following, her scent was getting a lot stronger. He looked up, and saw her sitting with her back to him, she was sitting on a small knoll. He smiled and crouched, slowly sneaking up on her. He let out a playful bark, and she turned only to see him pounce on her. They laughed and rolled down the hill, making snow fly everywhere. Blue landed on her back, and Akela landed on top of her. Their noses met, and their laughter died instantly.
Akela looked at her, stunned. Blue looked at him too, her light blue eyes gazing back up to him, expressionless. Then, it caught on, and Akela backed up so she could stand. "Uh...sorry about that." he says embarrassed. Blue got to her feet, and shook off the snow from her coat. She smiled and said quietly. "You have nothing to be sorry for." Akela smiled and looked at her. He cleared his throat and says,
"Blue...I've been wanting to tell you this for a while. I...I...well, I lo-" a howl cut him off. It was Rider, calling them to do their training for fights. "That's Rider...we have to go." He says and sighs and walks back up the hill. Blue gazed after him for a moment and said quietly, "I love you too Akela…"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone