approach.

“Ooh, scary! Someone seems a lot braver this time!” he remarked tauntingly, “What brought on this burst of valor, hmm?”

“It was the knowledge that this time I will not lose to you!” Rallan snarled and charged Typhoon, colliding with him at maximum force. Typhoon grunted and flew backward, landing on his back and skidding to a halt. Though wounded, he seemed like nothing had happened! He merely got up and shook out his coat.

“Was that your best? Tsk tsk, I thought I trained you better than that, Rallan…” Typhoon said in his chastising voice once again, “Perhaps it’s time for another lesson… Watch and learn…”

Typhoon growled viciously as he charged Rallan, leaping forward and clamping his jaws onto the wolf’s shoulder. Rallan yelped as Typhoon brought him down to the ground, then released him and jumped backward. Rallan grimaced as the sharp pain shot through his body, getting up a little uneasily at first. He glared lethally at Typhoon and growled back as he rushed forward, ready to attack him once again…

Krystal watched with worry as Rallan growled and tossed about in his sleep. Something was going on with him inside his subconscious mind, but she had no way of knowing what it was. As soon as Rallan let out a yelp of pain, Krystal nearly shook him awake, but stopped herself. This is something Rallan has to deal with… she told herself over and over, simply stroking Rallan’s body gently as he slept…

Typhoon grunted as he fell backward, four long marks across his muzzle where Rallan had managed to get a slice in on him. His torso and shoulders were bruised a bit, but nothing serious yet. He got up, glaring and smirking at his son.

“Wow, you really have gotten rusty, son!” Typhoon mocked, “Maybe a familiar scene will bring back some of your old strength back to you!”

Rallan suddenly felt the invisible ground beneath him disappear and once again he was free-falling. Typhoon had also begun falling, heading down the endless black to wherever he had chosen. Rallan had no choice but to go with it, so he just let himself fall, wondering where he’d end up. After a few minutes, he saw a patch of navy-colored ground beneath him and the two wolves landed in a nighttime clearing, dense forest surrounding them. Rallan gasped as he recognized the scene again. It was where Typhoon and Varim had been killed.

“You have a sick sense of humor, Dad…” Rallan said scornfully, his glare matching the tone of his voice, “Why don’t you go back to wherever you wound up dead?”

“I am dead, Rallan… This is just my subconscious form…” Typhoon corrected, smirking cruelly, “And as long as you can’t control how you feel about this moment, you’ll never win… I’ll haunt you forever, until the day you die…”

Rallan didn’t even have time to react as Typhoon rammed him full-speed into a tree. He cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground. Typhoon grabbed Rallan’s neck in his powerful jaws and tossed him backwards into the center of the clearing. Before the young gray wolf could get up again, Typhoon leapt forward and slammed down forcefully onto his son’s back, knocking him down to the ground hard. Rallan lay there, whimpering softly as Typhoon continued his assault, slicing and biting his torso until he had barely any strength left. He had been right… Rallan couldn’t win…

In the real world, things had also begun to look bad for Rallan. His breathing had become heavier and he was tossing about less, a sure-sign that he was losing. Krystal began to worry even more, now licking his muzzle and cheek tenderly.

“Please don’t give in, Rallan… You can beat him…” she whispered into his ear, “It’s your mind, not his…”

“It’s your mind, not his…”

These words echoed through Rallan’s head. It was Krystal’s voice, and suddenly he realized what they meant and what he was supposed to do. Typhoon snickered darkly as he came closer to Rallan with the intent to kill him once again.

“Any last words, murderer?” he asked in a snide voice. Rallan’s eyes slowly opened and he glared up at Typhoon.

“I’m not… a murderer…” he managed to say. Typhoon chuckled.

“Yes you are…”

“No, I’m not! I only think I am because you keep telling me I am!” Rallan snapped back, watching as his father’s confident, snide look vanished from his face, “You only keep beating me cause I believed I was a murderer… But I’m not! I know I’m not, Krystal knows I’m not, and that’s all that maters to me!”

Typhoon scowled, looking as if he’d just been slapped across the face. Rallan growled lowly and slowly and weakly rose up to his paws again. A more determined look gleamed in his eyes as he stood against his father once more.

“You don’t even exist! You’re dead! This is only how I see you!” Rallan realized, smirking slightly, “I kept thinking you thought I was a murderer and you kept telling me I was! In other words, you’re doing exactly as I say and feel!”

Once more, Typhoon scowled, glaring now as well. He took a few uneasy steps backward, suddenly looking weaker than before. Rallan took this to his advantage and began his advance on his father.

“And another thing, I don’t regret what I did to you! You were a terrible father to me and to Varim! You deserved what happened to you!” Once more, Typhoon looked weaker, “And you’re only afraid of letting me know this is because it’s true… You only thrived because I was afraid… But now I’m in control again and you’re no longer welcome…”

With that last sentence, Typhoon grunted lowly and fell to the ground. He panted heavily and glanced up at Rallan who now loomed overhead, glaring down at him. Typhoon opened his muzzle to say something, but Rallan wasn’t about to let him get anything in to make him lose. He quickly forced his father down and bit into his throat again, pulling back quickly and watching as his father’s body vanished in a cloud of smoke.

“Goodbye, father…” Rallan said lowly, “Don’t bother me again…” And then Rallan lost himself to a blindingly bright light…

Rallan grunted and coughed as he slowly came around, eyes flickering open slowly. Everything was a blur to him at first, but after letting his eyes adjust for a few moments, he could see Krystal staring down at him, a hopeful look on her face. Rallan smiled up at her, triumph shining in his eyes as he said,

“I think I’ll be sleeping a lot better from now on…” And with that, Rallan fell asleep again to rest up from all the nights he’d missed…

            Before anyone knew it, winter had rolled around again. The days got shorter, the air got considerably cooler, and Rallan and Krystal both got their fluffy winter coats. The first snowfall was rather late in the winter, occurring a couple days after Rallan’s birthday in mid-Winter. Rallan often sat out atop one of the nearby hills, just watching the forest around him. Without all the birds around, things had gotten rather quiet, and there was something serene to the white-covered forest. All that could be heard was the gentle blowing of the wind and the snowflakes falling gradually down to earth. This was the time of year Rallan loved the most because of its tranquility.

The nostalgic quiet of the world sent Rallan back… back in his life to times before now… How had this all started? He and Rayne had been best friends as small pups and now as adults they were the bitterest of enemies! The Lylrite Pack, so loyal to him and so vindictive… And Varim… Oh, Varim… The memories brought a few tears to Rallan’s eyes, which fell softly down from his muzzle to cut little holes in the undisturbed snow beneath him. Rallan closed his eyes slowly, trying to keep back from breaking down as more memories came back to him. Now his life reflected to him. His mother, brother, and father were dead, several other wolves were dead, his sister was hunting him to the ends of the Earth, and here he was, mated to Krystal in a place he could only have dreamed of…

Behind him, Rallan heard the soft crunching of pawsteps and sighed softly when he felt a muzzle gently run through the thick fur on his neck. He didn’t need to look or sniff the air to tell who it was. It was pretty obvious to him by now.

“Krystal…” Rallan said softly, closing his eyes as she nuzzled him again, “I’m always happy whenever you’re nearby…” Krystal giggled softly and licked his cheek affectionately.

“Well Rallan, I have a bit of a surprise for you…” Krystal said