her face.

“Krystal! That wasn’t funny!” Rallan said with a smile, tackling her and dunking her under the water again before pulling her back up, “Now that! That was funny!”

“Oh, you-” Krystal said before Rallan pushed her under again, pulling her back up after a couple of seconds, “I’ll get you!” Krystal laughed and tackled Rallan back, both wolves plunging under the water again. They came to the surface a moment later, both of them swimming to the bank. Krystal got on land first, glancing back at Rallan as he gave her a playful grin. She grinned back and placed a paw on his forehead. Rallan’s grin vanished as he knew what was coming next- and it did. Krystal pushed him back into the water before shaking herself off.

“Betcha can’t catch me, Rally!” Krystal said before bolting off, laughing to herself.

“Hey! Only my sister calls me Rally! You don’t wanna be like Rayne!” he shouted after her, getting onto land and shaking himself off before rushing off after her. He followed her damp scent through the woods until he came to a grove, where her scent just ended. Rallan looked around, tilting his head in confusion until a snap above him caught his attention. He grinned and looked up- only to see a squirrel milling about on a branch above him.

“Gotcha!” came the triumphant cry of Krystal as Rallan felt something knock him off his feet and pin him to the ground. He blinked a couple of times before identifying the wolf once more as Krystal. He grinned and grabbed her shoulders, rolling about so he was holding her down now.

“You’re not very strong, Krystal… That was almost too easy!” Rallan said teasingly, grinning victoriously, “How are you gonna get me off now?” Krystal smirked and placed a back paw on Rallan’s lower stomach, dragging it up and down swiftly, her claws lightly running across his skin. Rallan’s face broke into a huge smile and he began bursting into fits of laughter.

“K-Krys-Krystal! S-stop! I’m n-not t-ticklish!” Rallan said, words broken by laughter.

“Oh yeah? Then why are you laughing?” Krystal asked, continuing to tickle him mercilessly until she felt his grip loosen on her shoulders.

With all her strength, she pushed forward and knocked Rallan onto his back. She leapt onto him and continued to tickle his vulnerable belly. Rallan writhed about, both wolves acting as if they were pups again, but neither of them cared. Krystal grinned as she watched Rallan’s facial expressions. After a few moments, Rallan placed his paws on her chest and pushed, landing on top of her again. The two of them lay panting softly for a few minutes until Rallan went to look at Krystal and Krystal to look at Rallan. Their combined actions were timed just perfectly and their noses met once again. The two wolves froze for a few moments before they pulled away, blushing with lowered ears.

“Er, sorry  about that Krystal…” Rallan said sheepishly, climbing off of Krystal and taking a couple steps backward, “I… I didn’t mean to… I kinda just… Sorry…” Krystal could tell by the way Rallan was beginning to stutter that it was an embarrassing accident. She had felt just as embarrassed, but she had kind of enjoyed it.

“I… I know, Rallan… I’m sorry too…” Krystal replied. Rallan smiled slightly and chuckled weakly.

“Don’t be… It was just an accident, right?”

“Yeah, just an accident…”

“Yeah…” Rallan said in agreement, sighing softly and smiling warmly at Krystal, “Come on, let’s go get some breakfast…” Krystal quickly got back to her feet and followed Rallan off into the forest, also ready for some breakfast.

            For an entire month, Krystal had strayed from her den at night and whenever she got a moment alone to call for Rallan, searching desperately for him. Every time she would call his name, she would listen with high hopes of hearing his voice call back, but everyday nothing came… At night, she’d dream that Rallan would come back and everything would be fine again, but she’d wind up waking up in tears when he never came back… Heartbroken and distraught, Krystal began to eat less and sleep less, instead keeping to herself and her futile search.

Desert had known about Krystal’s sneaking away at night for two weeks and had at first considered scolding her for doing such things. But when she did go to confront her one time, she found her daughter in complete sobs. She didn’t have the heart to do anything. She had always thought Krystal and Rallan were close friends, but the way she was taking Rallan’s exile, Desert guessed that Krystal had never merely wanted to be friends.

On the night just after the monthly anniversary of Rallan’s exile, Talon had caught Krystal down by the river, calling out Rallan’s name. In a fury, he had yelled at her to come home, and with a low head and heavy heart, she did. She went right to her bed and lay down, pretending to be asleep. Talon advanced on her and sat down, glaring at his daughter.

“Krystal, what the hell do you think you were doing up, let alone calling out that traitor’s name?!” Talon asked in a gruff, stern voice. Krystal refused to move. Desert had woken up and was now watching the whole thing. Talon was beginning to lose his patience with her.

“Krystal, I asked you a question… Answer me!” he nearly shouted. Krystal glared at him, tears in the corners of her amber eyes.

“I was looking for Rallan…” Krystal answered, “I want him to come back… I want him to come home again…” Talon growled angrily and lowered his voice so only Krystal could hear him.

“Now listen here young lady, you will no longer leave this den at night, understood? You will forget all about that demon and you will go on with life, do you understand me Krystal?!” Talon hissed. Krystal growled back and stood up.

“Damn you…” she muttered back, proceeding to walk past her father. Talon grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and forced her back down.

“Krystal! You will do as I say and you will not go looking for that brute anymore!”

“No Dad, I won’t! I’ll keep looking for Rallan!” Krystal snapped back, tears now falling down her muzzle, “I love him, Dad! Why can’t you see that?!”

“No you won’t! You won’t love him!” Talon shouted, looming over his daughter and baring his fangs, “You will not love a despicable traitor like him! The bastard’s dead by now anyway…” That was as much as Krystal could take. She pushed Talon out of the way and ran to the mouth of the den, casting one last glare at him through tear-filled eyes.

“You’re wrong Dad! I will love Rallan and I will find him alive!” Krystal snapped back, “I will find him. I WILL!”

With those last words to her family, Krystal turned and ran off into the night. Though she wasn’t very strong or muscled at all, she was fast. She ran right past the border, missing the guards’ attention and just kept on going. She followed the direction Rallan had taken, mind now dead-set on finding the wolf she cared so much about…

            Rallan and Krystal lay out on the top of a hill, devouring their breakfast. Rallan hadn’t eaten since the day before and he was utterly ravenous, digging into the deer he’d managed to kill. Krystal ate along with him, making light conversation between bites. After most of the carcass had been eaten, the two wolves lay out, basking in the warm summer sunlight. Rallan glanced over at Krystal and smiled.

“I guess your ankle’s healed then, huh?” Rallan asked. Krystal flexed her paw and smiled while nodding to him.

“Yep… It healed overnight… I guess it was just a slight sprain…” Krystal replied, rolling over onto her side and staring back at Rallan, “Rallan, what did you do after you were exiled? Where did you go?” Rallan swallowed slightly and sighed heavily.

“I ran south for a long while, following a river… Then I found this female who took me to her den… I stayed there for a couple months, but it was all a setup…” he explained, “Then I went wandering again and I wound up somewhere to the north of here, where it was always cold and snowy… I would still be there, but Rayne tipped off the Alpha and I was driven out… Then I ran southeast and found another wolf who was so friendly to me… I’ll have to go visit him again sometime… Then Rayne caught me and I eluded her by taking the river however far south I was when you found me…”

“But how did you wind