Struggling, he tried to pull himself up, but he was beaten too badly; he'd lost most of his strength. He glanced up into the eyes of Tychon, who was now standing before him, a deep hate in his brother's eyes. "Tychon... It's not too late..." Kalil said pleadingly, "We won't tell anyone what happened, just help us up! Please brother!" Tychon stared at him for a moment, then grabbed Kalil's paws and put his muzzle to his ear. "Goodbye Kalil..." he whispered evilly and tossed him over the edge. "Noooooooo!" Kalil screamed as he and Najan plummeted down towards their doom. He grabbed Najan with his paws and curled up around him, protecting him from the force of the water. The moment they hit it's surface, they went under, and Kalil felt a heavy pressure on his head and began to black out. Why? he thought and everything went dark.

Tychon laughed wickedly to himself as he watched them fall and heard the splash from below. It was oddly satisfying to his ears. "Rest in peace Kalil and Najan..." he said and ran off back home. He arrived a minute later, skidding to a halt before Niran and Lunera, who were speaking with the Sanarin Beta, fake distress in his eyes. "Mom! Dad! There's been a horrible accident!" he said urgently, "Kalil and Najan! I saw them fall off the cliff! I tried to help, but I was too late, and now they're..." He stopped and faked a sob, his father's eyes widening with worry. "No," he said and sprinted to the cliffside, stopping at the edge. "KALIL!!! NAJAN!!!" he shouted down, his voice echoing down the canyon walls. He took a step back and was about to dive down in a futile attempt to save his sons when the Beta tackled him and held him down. "No sir!" he said, struggling to hold his Alpha back from certain death, "It's too late. I'm sorry, but they're gone..." Niran felt tears come to his eyes and sat down, his head hung in sorrow. Lunera padded up next to him, tears already flowing from her blue eyes. "NOOOOOOO!!!!!" Niran howled to the twilight sky above. As far as they knew, Kalil and Najan were dead...

Chapter 4: Awakening

Oh God, my whole body feels like it wieghs a ton! Kalil thought as all he saw was darkness. He looked left, right, up, and down, but nothing except the infitie blackness. Then he felt warm; warmth all over his body. Great, he thought, I'm dead. I died. I'm dead... Then he heard a sound he thought he'd never hear again: water. What? Suddenly a bright light filled the darkness and he felt as if he was being pulled towards something. Now I know I'm dead! he thought as the light consumed him.

Kalil's body twitched and shuddered as his eyes slowly opened. At first, everything was a blur of light and color, then the colors began to take a definite shape. A forest... he thought as trees, bushes, and grass appeared before him. He glanced around; he was lying on what seemed to be one of the many shores of the Syn River. Beside him lay Najan, unconscious, but still breathing. Oh, thank God he's alright! he thought and struggled to his feet, falling once, but finally getting up. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth and put his left paw in, pulling out, revealing some blood on his paw. Great. Tychon sure took a toll on me, he thought and mentally cursed himself for being so careless. Beside him, a small groan was heard and he spun around, smiling widely as Najan moved.

The blackness that had engulfed Najan finally lifted and he saw masses of green and brown. W-what's going on? he thought and then saw grey and white as well. He stared curiously at it until it took the shape of Kalil. "Kalil?" he asked wearily and his brother nuzzled him warmly. "You alright Najan?" he asked as Najan slowly got to his feet. "Yeah... I'm fine..." he said and looked around, Kalil following suit. "I'm... I'm not sure..." he said slowly, trying to get his bearings. Suddenly, a twig snapped behind them and Kalil turned his attention to a nearby bush as a black wolf stepped into view and eyed them for a moment.

"Um, hello..." he said, confused by the two wolves' presence, "You... you two aren't River members, why are you here?" Kalil stared at him for a moment. "Wait... River members? You mean this is River Pack territory?" he asked and groaned when the black wolf nodded, "We drifted about 500 miles downriver..." "Beg your pardon?" the wolf asked again, still unsure of what they were doing here. "We... ah, fell into the Syn River about 500 miles upriver..." "Jeez! Then you've got a long walk ahead of you two!" he said, surprised to learn of their origin, "500 miles north. That's Sanarin territory. You're Sanarin members?" Kalil nodded and the black wolf thought for a moment.

"My name's Toron. I'm a member of the River Pack," he started and bowed his head respectfully to them, "I can lead you to our north border; it's not too far away from here. From there on, you're on your own." Kalil smiled at Toron. "Thank you Toron. We accept. Let's get moving. The sooner we get home, the better." Toron led them northward until they reached the border. "Here it is!" he said and motioned for them to go on, "Take care of yourselves, alright?" Kalil was about to say "Thank you," when another black wolf leapt out and pinned him to the ground, snarling threateningly. "You're an intruder in River territory!" the wolf snarled and was pulled off by Toron. "Taran, no!" he said, holding the wolf back, "Sister, please. They are here on accident and are leaving now." He nodded at Kalil and Kalil grabbed Najan in his mouth and ran out of their territory. "You let him go?" Taran asked him. Toron nodded. "They're too young to die just yet. I won't be responsible for their blood," he said and looked at his sister, "Now I'm not. Let's get back to the others. I'm sure they're waiting..."

Chapter 5: First Blood

"Kalil, I'm tired!" came the weary complain of Najan. Kalil chuckled and looked at his younger brother, padding alongside of him. "You just said that five minutes ago," he replied and carried on walking. Najan groaned, but kept up with him. "What if we get attacked again?" he asked, "You'll need your strength to fight back!" Kalil laughed, but realized that Najan's fears may be well-established. They had no idea what they'd encounter on their way home and this was no walk in the woods, this was 500 miles of travelling ahead of them Well, about 485 miles by now, Kalil thought, but kept that to himself, not wanting to hear his brother complain anymore. "Don't worry Najan. Your big bro can take anything that's thrown at him!" he said, trying to keep Najan's morality high. "Alright, but how much longer until we can rest?" Kalil looked up at the sky. The sun was about to set, so he reasoned that they had an hour or two of daylight left. "In about one hour, Najan," he answered and carried on, trudging through the undergrowth of the forest, little Najan by his side.

As the sun touched the horizon, every single wolf of the Sanarin Pack gathered at the cliffside, mournful expressions on their faces. "Dear comrades, fellow wolves," Niran began, tears in his eyes, "We've gathered to pay our final respects to my two dear sons, Kalil and Najan... They were taken from us too early when they fell at this very spot... They will be missed dearly. I loved them both with every fiber in my body... To lose them while they were still young..." He couldn't finish and tears fell down his powerful muzzle. "Thank you all for attending. It means so much to Lunera and I... Thank you..." Niran walked over to Lunera, who buried her face into his fur and sobbed uncontrollably. Tychon stood up. "It was a tragedy to lose my brothers, my two best friends in this world... But I manage to somehow look on the bright side... At least they're in a better place now..." he said solemnly. That, and I get to be the Alpha once Dad dies as well, he thought and held back a grin. "To Kalil and Najan!" The twilight was suddenly filled with lamenting howls, signaling that two young wolves had unfortunately lost their lives.

As stars began to fill the sky, Kalil stopped in a clearing to try to get his bearings. About 50 miles... he thought and shook his head, We've gone about 50 miles. Only 450 miles to go. Oh dear... Najan lay down as Kalil looked up at the stars. "Goodnight Kalil," Najan said with a yawn. Kalil smiled down at the little grey furball curled up next to him. "Goodnight Naja-" he said, but was cut off when something pounced on him, the two forms rolling on the ground for a moment until they stopped and pulled away from each other. What in God's name was that? he thought as he stood up and saw a pitch black wolf glaring at him.

"Who are you?" Kalil demanded as he stared down the other wolf. "My name is none of your concern!" the other wolf spat back in a gruff voice, obviously a male, "But I'll tell you this: I enjoy the taste of blood." With that, the wolf lunged for Kalil's throat, but Kalil was faster and side-stepped just in time to dodge his attack. The male spun around and hit him in his face with his paw, leaving four scratched on his muzzle. Kalil stood up again and the wolf bit into his shoulder, drawing blood. "Aaaarrrgghhh!" Kalil screamed in pain and hit the male with his paw, knocking him away.

"You b*****d!" the wolf shouted as he stood up again, glaring at Kalil, "I was going to make your death quick and painless, but now you'll suffer!" He ran forward and slammed into Kalil's chest,