target: Rallan. He laughed darkly, his voice low so as not to catch any attention, though it seemed like the apocalypse couldn’t tear those two apart at this point! Rayne’s gonna eat this information up! he thought to himself, knowing all he needed to know. Now he just needed winter to arrive, and to him, it couldn’t come fast enough…

After both wolves had finally run out of breath and energy to continue their fast-paced loving, they settled down to cuddling and reminiscing. Rallan told stories of what he’d gone through after exile and his childhood with his father. Krystal told of how she searched for him and called to him though he never came. Soon the sunset turned to twilight, then to dusk, then night.

“I’d sit out every night… I’d call your name and pray to hear you call back…” Krystal whispered, tears in the corners of her eyes, “I’d dream about you every night, about you and me… I always wished that I’d find you, but when I never did, I was so afraid that you were dead…” Rallan gently licked the tears from her eyes, holding her close.

“I’m here now Krystal… I’m never going to leave you alone again… I promise…” Rallan whispered back. Krystal nuzzled him lovingly, resting her head beneath his chin and running her muzzle through the soft fur on his neck and chest. She let a soft, drawn-out sigh escape her muzzle as she lay there, finally together with the wolf she loved so much. Slowly, Krystal’s eyes slid closed and she fell into a deep, peaceful slumber beside her beloved mate.

Rallan lay awake for a little while longer, eyes staring up at the stars above the two wolves. He heaved a sigh, his chest rising and falling heavily as he gazed at the star-covered canvas of night. Memories hounded him like waves crashing onto the beach below, some good, and most bad. He didn’t know what to think of himself anymore. He’d become so convinced that he was a murderer that he’d begun to think himself as guilty for his father’s and brother’s deaths. But Krystal didn’t see him that way. She’d seen him as innocent and fought even against her father’s will to see him through. Perhaps… Perhaps he wasn’t as bad as he’d begun to think of himself as?

Rallan sighed heavily once again before closing his brown and gold eyes, blocking out the world around him. All he was left with was the soothing sounds of the ocean, the feeling of Krystal’s head upon his chest, and her light breathing as she slept on. Soon, he too joined her in the land of sleep…

Chapter 4

            Life was definitely good for Rallan now. It was late-Autumn and he still had yet to be discovered by Rayne or her cronies, his ex-friends. He had settled down into a peaceful co-existence with the forest, living life happily alongside Krystal. No longer was he terrified of Rayne coming charging over the hill after him. By now, she was more than likely hundreds of miles off-track! Everything was, as it seemed to Rallan, perfect… What more could a wolf ask for? A wonderful home, a beautiful mate, all the time in the world, and finally he had his peace of mind again. But this time, it seemed like it would finally last…

But Rallan was not quite relieved of the burdens and pains of his past. Although he had begun to think of himself less and less as a true criminal and more of a falsely-accused innocent, he was still tormented by his father subconsciously every so often. His nightmares became more and more harmful to Rallan, depriving him of sleep for days in a row sometimes and other times causing him to cease eating in worry. He knew he couldn’t live like this, but every time he’d try to go up against his father, he’d lose in a manner more gruesome than the last! Rallan was seemingly at the end of his rope.

Yet he was far from helpless… Krystal had long since begun to worry about her mate. Ever since he’d awoken one night, whimpering that his father was going to kill him if he slept she’d grown more and more concerned by the day- or more accurately, by the night. This would go on, sometimes twice or thrice in a row! Finally, Krystal couldn’t stand seeing Rallan in so much suffering and distress and knew she had to find some way of helping him with his dilemma.

It was one night in late-Autumn when the solution finally came to her…

“Rallan, what is it your father does to you, exactly?” Krystal asked softly, staring calmly yet seriously at the gray wolf lying before her. It was storming pretty heavily outside, the rain and thunder drowning out everything else outside the den. Rallan glanced up at Krystal and sighed heavily.

“He keeps mocking me, saying I’m pathetic and that I’m a worthless murderer… and then…” Rallan swallowed hard, placing a paw to his throat as if to feel for a wound, “… He kills me…” Krystal sighed heavily and glanced down at her paws for a few moments. Then she looked up at her mate once again.

“When you fight him, Rallan, what do you feel?” she asked, analyzing the puzzled look Rallan gave her, “Like, do you feel angry, or remorseful, or… what are you feeling?” Rallan thought for a long moment. He’d never considered that before! After several minutes of intensive thought, he finally answered.

“I feel… betrayed… I feel like he turned on me, so I want revenge…” he responded, staring at the wall blankly as he recollected his many subconscious engagements with his father, “He keeps saying I’m a murderer, so I attack with the feeling of wanting him to just shut up and leave me alone…” Krystal suddenly got an idea, one she hoped would be the long-awaited solution to his sleeping problem.

“Hold on a moment Rallan. I think I may have found the answer…” Krystal said with a thoughtful look in her eyes, “You say he keeps calling you a murderer, right?”

“Right.”

“And then you attack him then to make him stop…”

“Right…”

“And you attack him feeling vengeful and betrayed, correct?”

“… Yeah…”

“Well there’s your answer!” Krystal exclaimed. Rallan now looked more confused than ever before.

“Um, what’s my answer?” he asked Krystal, clearly lost.

“You attack him vengefully when he calls you a murderer and you lose every time…” Krystal pointed out, a grin slowly spreading across her muzzle, “So the next time he calls you a murderer, don’t attack him with vengeance. You know the truth: that you’re not a murderer… So hit him with that! Attack him not for revenge, but for the truth you were deprived of! Instead of thinking about your own revenge, think about getting the truth from him!”

Rallan was a little uncertain about this plan, but it did have some good logic in it. He still looked uneasy about facing off against his father again though. He let out a long, heavy sigh and lay his head down on his paws, staring at the den wall in front of him. Krystal could see his worry and lay down beside him, gently stroking from his forehead down the back of his neck. Almost immediately, Rallan began to settle.

“Don’t be afraid… I’ll be right here the whole time…” she said softly, encouraging him greatly. Rallan smiled up at Krystal and slowly closed his eyes.

“Thank you, Krystal…” he replied, yawning sleepily, “Well, here goes everything…”

“Show him what you’ve got…” Krystal said softly, getting a gentle murr from Rallan before he went out completely. All the while, Krystal sat beside him, gently stroking him to let him know she was still there…

            Rallan was falling down into an infinite darkness, an abyss which seemed to have absolutely no end to it. After a couple moments of endless descent, his paws finally touched solid ground, but there was nothing there. Just more empty blackness. He looked around, waiting to see the wolf he was determined to defeat. He didn’t know why, but he somehow felt strangely empowered this time around.

“DAD!!!” Rallan shouted out into the dark void, his voice echoing all around him as if he were in a gigantic cave, “I’M BACK!!! COME ON, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“Looking for me?” came a cold voice from behind him. Rallan gasped softly and spun around, eyes falling upon the gray-pelted form of Typhoon. His father grinned wickedly at him as he slowly advanced toward Rallan. Rallan glared at him and growled, a low snarl forming deep within his throat. Typhoon scoffed and kept up his approach.