Chapter 5: Vale

          Vale shook her head to remove the leaves from it.   Autumn had come, and red, yellow, and orange leaves fell from the trees like spring showers.  A reddish leaf the same color as her own fur landed on her nose.  Though many dead leaves lay underfoot, the red female made no sound as she walked away from the territory where she had lived for her entire life.  She dared not look back.

Muscles rippled under her lush and unusually long fur, and hard yellow eyes stared out of a frame of reddish tan fur.  Dried blood caked her face and side.  A jagged scar ran from Vale’s left ear to the right side of her muzzle, barely missing her left eye.  It looked fairly fresh and gave her a sinister appearance. 

Vale’s thoughts wondered to the “crime” that she had been accused of and the wolf that had accused her.  Flower had just had her first litter, and she was immensely proud of them.  As Tribe tradition dictated, only the Long-Claw could mate.   Stone.  Vale tensed just thinking about him.  Stone, the Long-Claw of the Tribe of Claw, who had driven her from his Tribe and falsely accused her of treason to her Tribe.  The Tribe of Tooth had been pressuring Stone’s Tribe, constantly stealing prey and threatening attack.  Finally, Stone had decided to strike back.  He had led an attack on his enemy’s camp.  The Tribe of Tooth had been caught unawares, and many wolves soaked the ground with their blood.  When Stone had come upon the Long-Tooth’s mate defending her pups, he stole two, then ran off with his wolves, leaving behind a broken Tribe.  The next day, he took his wolves and went hunting.  He had left Vale behind to guard his new pups and his real offspring.  This had been a severe insult, as Vale had been the Second Claw.  Stone could do nothing to dislodge Vale from her position, though he hated her with a passion.  He had become Long-Claw through inheritance; Vale had fought her way up.  He had been afraid that she would usurp him too.  As Vale was sitting at the entrance to Flower’s den, fuming over being left behind, a wolf had crashed into her from behind.  Vale had recognized him as a wolf she had beaten in the fight to be Beta.  He had held her down as two others went into the den.  There had been a muffled shriek, and the two wolves came out with two pups.  They had been the pups that Stone had stolen.  One of the wolves had looked very like her, and the other had a faint scent of the Tribe of Tooth.  The one that had the enemy scent ran off with the two pups, and the one that looked like her had turned and said in a reedy voice, “Vale, you’ve just committed treason.  When Flower wakes up, she’ll remember seeing a reddish female wolf steal the new pups, with a Tribe of Tooth wolf with her.  You had better run now.” 

The wolf on top of Vale had released her, but bit her leg so she could not follow.  Vale had known that Stone was behind this, and that she could do nothing, except leave and hope they didn’t catch her.  She had only been running a few hours when sounds of pursuit could be heard.  Her leg wound had hampered her, so she could not out-distance them.  The Tribe had caught her.  They had fallen upon her, but she had not been Second Claw for nothing.  Finally, three wolves had caught her and held her down as Stone approached.

“We are the Tribe of Claw, so with a Claw I shall mark you,” he had intoned.  A grin of triumph had crept across his face as he continued.  “I shall mark you as an exile, lone wolf.”

“What for?”  Vale had cried.

“For treason.”  Stone had raised his left front paw as he spoke.  One claw on it had been sharpened and overgrown, in the manner of a Long-Claw of the Tribe of Claw.  He had raised his paw, then brought it down on Vale’s face.

Vale jerked herself out of the stream of memories.  She did not want to think about what Stone had done to her.  But the river pulled her relentlessly forward.  The horrendous pain as Stone’s claw scored down her face, the blood running down her snout.  The grating sound of Stone’s laughter as she writhed beneath him.  The darkness as she lost consciousness.  And finally, the memory released her.  She stopped walking for a moment, stunned by the vibrancy of her memory, and half-afraid that Stone was right behind her. 

Vale took a deep breath.  She continued her lope, but constantly looked over her shoulder.  At first she had thought the Tribe of Tooth might accept her, but she knew that they were far too aggressive toward the Tribe of Claw to even listen to her story.  Also, she bore the mark of the exile.  No wolf bearing that mark could join a Tribe.  Consequently, she thought, I will have to go beyond.  Out of the Tribe territory completely.  There must be other wolves.  If not, I could always live my life as a loner.  Vale cringed.  A Loner was the lowest of the low, a disgrace. 

A cracking sound rang out in the silent woods.  Vale froze, then turned toward the sound and growled, “Who’s there?  I don’t want a fight, but you’ll regret it if you pick one with me!”  Silence answered her call.  Vale yawned nervously.  It was nothing, I’m positive.  Just keep going, Vale.  You have to get out of Tribe territory before sundown!  Or else…  Vale shuddered.

Vale climbed to the top of a small rocky hill to survey the territory she was currently wandering through.  A gasp escaped her and she stared at the huge solitary mountain towering above her.  The sun was setting behind it, washing it with red light.  For one moment, it looked as though it were spewing fire and setting the heavens alight. 

A howl washed over her.  In the same second that Vale recognized Stone’s voice proclaiming her an exile to the Tribe of Tooth and saying that she was now free to be attacked as an intruder, she ran.  She ran as she had never run before, toward the Fire Mountain, as she was already beginning to call it.  The mountain beckoned to her soul, and offered her safety and a great destiny if only she would come.  Vale whispered to herself as she ran, “I’m coming, Mountain, I’m coming.”