Post by ~*~Bluefoxtrot~*~ on Jan 25, 2007 15:23:28 GMT -5
^^ I am entering a writing contest. First Prize: The winner gets their book published.
So I am working extra hard on this story. I need suggestions or comments, so that I can work on perfecting it so it will be ready to enter the contest by March. =) Of course, this is still incomplete, but I will post more when I get more writen. ^^
Just tell me what you think so far, that would be a great help! =)
Pine
[/b]So I am working extra hard on this story. I need suggestions or comments, so that I can work on perfecting it so it will be ready to enter the contest by March. =) Of course, this is still incomplete, but I will post more when I get more writen. ^^
Just tell me what you think so far, that would be a great help! =)
Pine
A single light breeze blew for a moment through the vale and across the grassy plain, washing softly against the rock wall of the cliff face and stirring the first orange fallen leaves at the mouths of the caves of the MoonFire Pack, bringing with it the very first chill of autumn. On this last warm evening in the green month of summer, not a single member of the pack was at rest in the caves. Even the elders were resting in the sun’s last fire red rays as the MoonFire wolves waited on baited breath at the edge of the wood, all ears pricked forward.
Pine’s black ears were also fastened forward as Stream and Brook, her two small daughters, waited in perfect silence with the rest of the pack.
Stream looked exactly like her mother, with fur as white as a mid-winter’s blizzard, and her ears, paws, tail tip, and muzzle dipped in a rich inky black, and her eyes as blue as the sea. Brook, on the other hand, was an image of her father, with a deep brown fur that blended with the trees, and eyes as shimmering green as the first budding leaves of spring.
For one moment more, the silence continued to lay over the pack like a thick blanket. Finally, a triumphant howl resounded from the trees, scarring up a flight of magpies and reverberating off of the cliff face. As if the sound had freed them from a spell, the entire pack began to howl and bark joyfully, pups leaping and giggling, and the whole air filled to bursting with the lifted spirits of the MoonFire Pack.
On this last night of summer, a night of the full moon was the return of the males, who had been out for an entire moon on the hunt. Pine turned happily to her best friend, Branch. “Oak will be returning soon now, and made a full fighter of the pack, Branch. You must be so proud.”
Branch beamed at her friend for the praise of her son. “That I am, Pine. And judging by Eagle’s howl, the hunt as been a good one at that.”
“Is daddy going to come back now?” Stream questioned her mother eagerly, bouncing on the spot and dodging her sister as she jumped at her, trying to get her to play.
Pine smiled at her pups and gave them each a quick lick between the ears. “Yes dear, your father will be returning very soon now.” She looked back up, her sapphire eyes scanning the edges of the trees where she could just begin to make out the silhouettes of the front-runners of the hunting party.
It began to get loud and crazy as the feas of the pack were reunited with the brutes and mates were brought together again, fathers to their children, sons to their parents, and brothers to their sisters.
“Pine! Been keeping things in top condition while we were away?” barked a familiar voice, followed closely by another.
“Aye, haven’t been causing too much trouble, I hope!”
Pine laughed as she was nearly toppled over by her two elder brothers. “Reed! Falcon! Can’t believe they didn’t ditch your sorry hides out on the plains!” she laughed, trying to keep an eye on Stream and Brook as she talked to her brothers. “Away with you both, Daisy and Shell are waiting for you, I expect.” She shoved them each good-naturedly as they laughed and bound away from her to find their mates.
“Oh, forgot all about me already, I see.” Said a deep, but humorous voice.
Pine turned around immediately, her eyes sparkling. “Stag! Oh, we’ve missed you so!” She buried her face against her mate’s brown neck fur, smiling as she glanced down at their two pups that were giggling as they played at their parent’s feet.
All the laughter and noise came to a rather sudden halt as Eagle, the pack alpha, stood on the High Rock and howled for silence. All eyes turned to the spotted black and red-furred brute, silhouetted against the purple and indigo sky in the last dim light of the sun setting beyond the jagged mountains.
“Wolves of the MoonFire Pack,” began Eagle, “we have lead the most successful hunt of the season, and now have enough food to last us through the winter.” The announcement was met by many happy barks and howls until Eagle silenced them with a flick of his tail. “Also, Oak, the son of Raven and Branch, and Yarrow, the son of Falcon and Shell, have completed their first hunt and can now be called full fighters of the pack.”
Pine howled the names of the new warriors with the rest of the pack, proud of her nephew and of her friend’s son.
A couple of other things were announced by the alpha about the hunt, and then the alphess, River, also stood on the High Rock to announce all that had happened while the males were away. By the time the speaking was finished, the full moon had just peeked the mountain’s jagged points, and the celebration was to begin.
That night, all was joyful and carefree. The pups all played together in squeaking, giggling pile. The elders lay peacefully at the mouths to the dens, watching the youngsters with smiles and reminiscing of when they had so much energy. And all the couples in the pack danced the Dance of the Fall Moon.
Pine danced with other females in the large outer circle as the males danced in the slightly tighter inner circle. The feas dipped and swayed their heads, their paws moving in unison to a beat kept up by one of the elders who thumped a hollow log with his tail in perfect rhythm. The brutes would take two steps forward and three steps back, over and over again, dipping their heads to the feas every fifth step. The females continued to dip and sway, turning every five steps in the opposite direction. When a pair would finally come side-to-side, they would exchange a kiss and depart from the circle, to go where they pleased.
Stag finally drew even with Pine and the two broke off from the remaining dancers, going down the small slope beside the caves and following a thin trail that lead to the lake. The mirror-like surface reflected the perfect bright orb of the full moon as Pine and Stag laid side-by-side, Pine resting her head on Stag’s front paws, and Stag gently resting his muzzle against hers. One other pair was present at the opposite side of the lake, but neither of the couples seemed to mind the other.
The silence was perfect and only broken by the sweet call of a nightingale or the odd chirrup of the last of the grasshoppers and crickets. Pine did not worry about the pups, knowing that they were under the watchful eye of the pack elder females along with the other pups. Pine sighed contentedly and closed her blue eyes. “I missed you while you were away, Stag.” She smiled slightly. “And so did your daughters.”
Stag smirked and lifted his head as his emerald eyes looked out over the lake. “When I left, they had barely opened their eyes. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown.” He dipped his head down again and gave Pine’s black maw an affectionate lick. “I missed you as well. You’re brothers are such a handful when you aren’t around to keep them in line.”
Pine opened her eyes and looked up at her mate. “I know, I grew up with them, remember?” Smiling, she rolled over onto her back, the back of her head still resting on Stag’s front paws, and licked the underside of his jaw affectionately in return. “I love you, Stag.” She smiled again. “But you know that.”
Stag smiled back at her. “Aye, but I’ll never tire of hearing it. And I’ll never tire of saying that I love you too, Pine.”
As Pine rolled back over, the two continued to lay together in silence, staring out onto the lake, and drifting in and out of wakefulness at times. After what felt like days of being together on that dark lake shore, Stag looked up at the sky to see that the milky white orb of the moon had just passed its zenith. “The pack will be bedding down, I suppose.” He said quietly to Pine, noticing that the other pair across the lake had already left. “We had better go up as well now.”
The two MoonFire wolves stood and walked together back up the path. As they reached the caves they saw only a few other wolves still in the camp. The rest had gone into the caves for the night. Oak and Yarrow were sitting in the center of the camp, keeping watch as all the new fighters had to do. Shadow, the beta male, and Snake, another fighter, were stationed to guard with them, since a minimum of four wolves had to be on guard at night.
Pine and Stag nodded to them as they entered the main cave, the faint clicking of their blunt claws echoing down the passage way as they turned down one of the many side tunnels into their den. Willow, Pine’s mother and an elder of the pack, was inside, watching the sleeping Stream and Brook. “Thank you for watching them for us, mother.” Pine whispered to the elder fea, so as not to wake the pups.
The light gray she-wolf nodded to her daughter with a slight smile and left without a word, as she often did, to return to the elder’s den and to Pine’s father, Rook. Pine lay down next to her pups, careful not to wake them, and Stag lay beside her. The faint sounds of other wolves wondering through the other caves echoed quietly off the stone walls, and soon everything was silent. It didn’t take long for Stag and Pine to fall asleep, warm and happy next to their two daughters. Pine’s last thought before she drifted off to sleep was that this was the happiest she could ever and would ever remember being, laying next to her pups and mate in the safety of their den.
A loud sound caused Pine to wake suddenly and lift her head, her black ears flicking forward. Stag had also woken because of the sound and the two wolves sat motionless for a moment. Stream and Brook were still both curled into tight balls beside their mother, sound asleep. Pine’s blue eyes slowly became adjusted to the darkness of the den as she continued to sit silently, wondering what had made the sound.
There was a sudden bark and a yelp from outside to the caves, causing both Pine and Stag to jump and come to their paws immediately, also causing Stream and Brook to wake sharply. “Wha’ was dat, mom?” Brook asked sleepily, looking up at her mother with bright green eyes.
Pine didn’t look down at her pups, her attention still fixed on the den entrance as if expecting some enemy to come through at any moment. “Brook, stay quiet and stay here with your sister.” Pine’s voice was firm but not harsh as she padded towards the den mouth, Stag right beside her.
More sounds of loud growling and snarling could be heard outside as the two wolves padded more quickly down the cave tunnel and soon came to the mouth of the cave, followed by other wolves who had exited their dens to investigate the noises.
Pine came to a sudden halt as she came to the entrance of the cave in time to see Oak fall to the ground in a pool of his own blood, a large black wolf standing over him. The light from the full moon washed over a terrible scene, causing Pine to gasp and take a step backwards. Oak, Yarrow, and Snake all lay dead on the blood-soaked ground, and Shadow, the black wolf, was standing at the head of a pack of wild dogs and rouge and loner wolves, his blood-stained fangs bared in a grin as more wolves began to emerge from the dens.
Pine was suddenly forced to step sideways as Eagle pushed his way through the crowded wolves until he stood at the front, facing the black wolf, his ears flat against his skull in anger and his lips pulled over his fangs in a snarl. “Shadow! What is the meaning of this?” Barked the alpha furiously, the fur along his shoulders standing up in an aggressive manner.
Shadow’s yellow eyes gleamed in the moonlight as even more wild dogs and wolves began to emerge from the tree line, adding to the numbers behind him. “I told you, Eagle. The loners in these woods make good fighters. I’m tired to getting orders barked at me from you.” He snarled. “You wouldn’t recruit them so I did. Now they outnumber the MoonFire pack, two to one.” He smirked wickedly.
Before another word could be spoken, Shadow gave a howling bark to the wolves and dogs behind him and they immediately leap to the attack. Eagle also barked to his wolves to fight, and the bloodiest battle began.
Stag, along with many others were the first into the fight. Pine backed up, along with a few other feas, and then ran back down the tunnels to their dens where their pups were. Stream and Brook were huddled in a corner of the den, their ears tilted back in fear as the caves began to fill with the loud sounds of the fighting at the entrances. “Mama!” Stream yelped as Pine dashed into the den.
Pine rushed to her pups and began to usher them towards the den’s entrance. “No talking now, you two, we have to get you out the back.” Pine knew that out of her two daughters, Brook was the braver, so Pine took Stream’s scruff in her jaws and carried her while urging Brook in front of her with her front paws as they moved as quickly as they could. In the tunnels, more females were walking out of their dens with their pups, all headed for the back exit, as well as the elders.
As they came to the back entrance, they had to form a line to get out, because it was too small for them all to go out at once. Pine nervously glanced back over her shoulder down the dark tunnel. Snarling, growling, barking, and yelping echoed and reverberated off the cave walls, and the sound was deafening. Finally Pine and her daughters came out of the tunnel and out into the woods.
Pine suddenly yelped, causing her to drop Stream, as something closed on her ear and pulled her sideways. Dread filled her as she realized that there were wolves here too. Shadow told them about the escape entrance! Growling, Pine ignored the pain in her ear and snapped at the paws of the wolf that held her. As soon as the other let go, Pine did not turn to face him, but leapt back into the thick of the fray to protect her pups. She stood protectively over Stream, looking around frantically for Brook. “Brook! Stream, where is your sister?” But Stream was so terrified that she could not answer, trembling as she crouched low to the ground. Pine bit and clawed at any wolf that got to close, desperate to protect her daughter, defending her from the attacking wolves. Around her, other feas were also protecting their precious pups, and the elders fought as well. No matter how hard they fought, though, there always seemed to be more, and Pine and the others would soon be over whelmed.
Suddenly a wolf rammed into her from the side, sending her crashing to the ground, nearly knocking the wind from her. Her head slammed against the ground and stars burst in her eyes, her head throbbing, and she immediately tried to stand but only stumbled. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and then finally came to her paws, looking frantically from one side to the other, for now she had lost site of both her pups. “Stream! Brook!” But even if they had replied, she could not hear them over the fighting going on around her. Furiously, she leapt at the nearest enemy wolf, pinning him to the ground.
For the second time a wolf attacked her from the side, sending both of them rolling. Pine bit and kicked at the other wolf, anything to get the brute off of her. She was rewarded by a yelp from the male as her jaws snapped down on his throat. He quickly tore away from her and Pine rolled to her feet. Again she was knocked to the ground by another wolf. It’s impossible to stay standing! But I have to find Stream and Brook! She kicked out hard with her back legs and they made contact with the other wolf’s belly, knocking the wind from him long enough for Pine to move out from under him. She ignored a badly bleeding cut on her front leg as she stared around frantically for her two daughters.
The fea turned her head in time to see another wolf charge at her and leapt back just in time. A black wolf’s jaws snapped on thin air where Pine’s throat had been only a second before. She leapt at the other wolf, sending them both to the ground, but the black brute was larger and stronger then Pine, and quickly had her pinned to the ground. Pine struggled to free herself from the black wolf, but suddenly the weight was lifted off of her as another wolf attacked the brute holding Pine down.
As Pine again rolled to her feet, she recognized the brown wolf. “Stag!”
Stag stood beside Pine, both wolves covered in cuts, and Stag was not putting any weight on his left front leg. “The wolves at the front had to fall back!” Stag barked to Pine over the barks, howls, and yelps from the fighting that was only growing increasingly worse. “Pine…. Eagle was killed. So were Reed and Falcon.”
Pine froze, staring at Stag. Both her brothers, and the alpha…. She yelped as another wolf crashed into her from the side in her moment of distraction. Instead of hitting the ground, though, Pine collided with a tree. She hit the tree hard, and a wave of pain crashed over her as she felt her ribs nearly crack from the impact. Barely able to breathe due to the force of the blow, Pine slid to the ground, gasping for breath.
Stag fought off the wolf before he had a chance to attack the winded Pine. As soon as Pine found her breath, she stood again, wincing at the pain in her side. Again, she stood side-by-side with Stag, fighting off the oncoming wolves. Even though she knew it was no good, Pine continued to frantically scan the fighting scene for any sign of Stream or Brook. “How many fell back with you?” she barked at Stag, nearly losing her footing to another side attack.
“Three.”
Again, Pine nearly felt frozen. Only three? But… that was impossible! That would mean that the whole pack….
When Pine looked around again, it was to see that nearly all the rogues and loners were attacking either herself or Stag, and as she looked again, it was with dismay to see the reason why. There were only two other MoonFire wolves still fighting besides them.[/center][/size]