and now the continuation...
The sun slowly rose over the horizon. It's orange gaze cast bright flashes of orange and yellow light across the melting snow. Navare cringed and slowly awoke as an arc of sunlight drew itself across his eyes. He yawned and stretched, then stood and looked around the cave. His eyes finally fell on a young white wolf sleeping only a few feet to his left. His eyes narrowed slightly and he remembered yesterday's events and how Winter and her siblings had come to the pack, supposedly seeking shelter and rest.
He glanced around the cave again, looking to make sure the other newcomers were still there. He saw Jared sleeping in the corner. Veena was next to Jared, although she was awake and seemed to be staring out of the cave entrance, deep in thought. Navare then turned about to find... nothing. He was disturbed to find that he couldn't see the black wolf anywhere, and began to fear that something was up. "Where are you?", he said quietly to himself.
"Looking for me?", a voice hissed from behind him. Navare spun around to see those two eerie, yellow eyes staring at him from a dark corner of the cave that almost never saw the sun.
"As a matter of fact I was.", he said, his gaze measured and suspicious. "What are you doing back there anyway? Sneaking around?"
"Navare, that is no way to talk to a guest.", another voice sounded.
They both turned to see Erak walk from his separate den at the back of the cave. Navare nodded his head in respect for his alpha. "I suppose not, sir. May I have a word, in private?", he asked, giving Twilight another suspicious look.
Erak nodded. "Over course." He turned to Twilight and said, "Good morning." Then he followed Navare outside the cave entrance, nodding at Veena as they went by. Veena returned the nod and gave him a small smile before returning to her thoughts. "Alright, Navare. What's this all about?"
Navare motioned to the cave with his head. "How do we know they can be trusted? They could be spies from some other pack that wants to take over our territory now that we are weak from these dogs' attacks."
Erak shook his head sadly, and said, "They couldn't be much older than you are. And I know of no pack anywhere near this forest that would send wolves as young as they are on a mission of that sort." Erak peered closer at Navare, trying to see the bright young wolf he had known so well before this whole mess started. He couldn't find him, but he just knew that the old Navare was in there somewhere.
Navare looked down feeling uncomfortable under the larger wolf's scrutiny. "Well... perhaps you're right." He may not have trusted the strangers, but he trusted Erak.
Erak nodded. "Good. I'm glad you understand. At least get to know them, before you pass any judgments about them." Navare looked back up and grudgingly nodded, then turned and walked toward the cave.
Once inside, he made his way towards his spot in the cave. He laid down and took a deep breath. Then he heard a noise to his left. He turned to see Winter waking up. She stretched and stood, looking around the cave.
As she took a look to make sure her siblings were alright, she caught sight of Navare looking at her. Winter remembered his opposed behavior to their staying. She couldn't understand why he was, though. She decided to try and clear things up. "Good morning", she said, giving him a friendly smile.
He grunted and gave her a curt nod. He would try to 'get to know them', as Erak had said, but he would do so with caution. He was still weary of the four siblings. "Good morning. You slept well?", he asked.
Winter nodded and said, "Yes I did. And you?" Now they were getting somewhere. At least he wasn't being outright hostile to her.
Navare shrugged. "Well enough." In fact, he hadn't gotten much sleep at all. He had stayed up for a good portion of the night, suspecting that Winter and her siblings would try and do something to the pack while they were sleeping. He had made the effort to stay conscious, but his need for sleep won out in the end.
Winter nodded and said, "Good." The other wolves were beginning to awaken and get up. "Twilight?", she called softly. Navare got up and walked away, not really wanting another encounter with the black wolf.
"Yes, sister?", Twilight said as he seemed to materialize from the surrounding shadows.
Winter nodded to him. "We'll leave the day after tomorrow. Did you find out how to get out of the forest?"
Twilight slowly nodded, a frown across his face. "Yes. I asked the old one, Gareth. But I think we should leave no sooner than one day from now." He took a glance out of the cave at the sun, seeing that it had risen a few feet above the horizon.
She looked at him curiously before a frown spread across her face as well. "Another one of your odd predictions?", she asked. Her concern deepened as he confirmed this with a nod. She now thought that leaving sooner would be a very wise choice indeed...
****
Two dogs made their way silently though the forest, constantly on the lookout for any sign of movement. The first dog, a male with white fur and light blue eyes, moved along with his nose trained to the ground, casting about for a scent of some sort. The second, a light grey female with eyes that were the same shade of light blue followed closely behind.
Suddenly, the male stopped and took a deep whiff of the ground he just passed over. "I got something.", he said quietly.
The female walked up next to him. "What is it, Jasper?", she asked.
Jasper took a few more deep breaths and then said, "It's wolf. Come on, Rose. Let's go tell Randy about this."
Rose nodded and ran after her brother as the two raced to give their scout leader the information they had attained about the enemies' movements.
****
Erak cleared his throat. The pack and their visitors had all woken up some time ago, and all were hungry. "Alright. It is time for us to hunt once again. The supply that we had stored has run out. It is dangerous, but necessary that we get food.", he said.
The members of the pack nodded their heads gravely. Their last hunt had been enough to last them a month and a half, but the dogs had attacked them and they had lost yet another member of their group.
Erak took a glance around at the wolves and then continued, "I will be leading the hunt. Holly, Gareth, Arlen and the pups will be staying behind. I need at least two of you to join me. I will understand if you wish to stay."
Navare was the first to step forward, his face blank and obedient. Juno and Chase joined him after that, hesitation and a small bit of fear in their eyes. Erak nodded in recognition of their courage. "Very well. Then-" He was cut off by another voice.
"I'll come as well.", Winter said, stepping forward. The everyone looked at her in surprise. Even Twilight's eyebrows rose at that, which is about as much of a surprised reaction as you could get out of him.
Erak frowned. "There is no need for you to come with us, Winter.", he said. "This could be particularly dangerous, and you could seriously injured, or worse."
She nodded. "I know that. But my father always taught me that I should repay any act of kindness towards myself or my family whenever possible. I intend to do just that.", she said.
A small smile tugged at the corners of the alpha's mouth. This young wolf had a good set of morals about her. "Very well then. You may come."
Winter nodded and said, "Thank you, sir." He nodded in return and then turned to head out of the cave. Before she started out after them, Winter turned to Twilight. "Take care while I'm gone."
Twilight's eyebrow's rose again. "You're leaving me in charge of them?", he asked, nodding towards Veena and Jared.
Winter nodded and said, "Yes. You're the smart one, after all."
Twilight gave her a sly smile. "I suppose that's true. Good hunting, sister.", he said, turning to head back into the cave.
Winter watched him disappear, then she took a deep breath and then ran to catch up with the others.
****
Navare stayed near the back of the group, mostly to watch their backs', partially to keep an eye on Winter. There was still a small doubt within his mind that she and her siblings harbored malicious intentions toward his pack, but the majority of this doubt was now replaced with a certain amount of curiosity. If she was really here to stir up more trouble, why was she putting her life at risk to help them hunt? The answer soon came to him that her siblings were also in need of food. But then did that not also mean that she was a caring, and therefor trustworthy individual? His distrust and his curiosity were locked in an inner struggle that the more curious side of himself seemed to be winning.
He decided to see if he couldn't find out more about her. He walked up beside her and said, "I notice you seem to speak with your black furred brother a
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