VOICES:

-Everest: Ben Affleck

-Will: Ralph Macchio

-Odin: Sam Troughton

-Fly: Jennifer Aniston

-Hiatus: Alan Rickman

-Quick: Jeff Berg

-Tempest: Ann Hathaway

-Arrow: Ben Stiller (come on guys, take him seriously this time)

-Cedar: Steve Martin

-Alder: Ken Jenkins

Chapter I

            Calmly but deliberately, the white and grey wolf with cold yellow eyes prowled into territory he had hoped would have belonged to his allies. But if it was their choice not to be, it was also their choice to suffer. They helped the enemy, and now they must pay. Arrow smirked next to him. Arrow has so much potential Hiatus thought. Then he thought of the wolf they were currently after. Too bad He didn’t. But now he can only be good one way. Dead.

            Someone giggled up ahead and Hiatus halted the pack. Then, he quietly snuck forward until he saw two Aklark pups playing all by themselves. With a lunge faster then lightening, Hiatus had the female in his teeth. Her brother shivered in horror.

            “Go tell your Daddy that we wanna say hello!” Arrow sneered.

The young wolf spun around and barreled through the snow. The pack waited in silence until another group almost as large as theirs arrived led by a flustered chocolate wolf.

                        “Chestnut!”

                        “Daddy!”

Hiatus chuckled and let Arrow hold onto Chestnut.

                        “What do you want?!” Cedar, the alpha asked, voice quavering.

            “You know what I want” Hiatus said with a faint smile. “Where is he? I’ll reward you if you give him to me”

Cedar’s confused face lit with remembrance.

                        “He’s not here anymore”

 Hiatus tsked and shook his head. As he did, Cedar could see three scars running across his left eye.

                        “Maybe he’s gone for good! Please give me my daughter back!”

Hiatus shook his head again.

            “I don’t think you understand” Hiatus said coolly. “For every day he’s not right here in front of me, one of your pack dies. And she’ll be first”

Hiatus turned around again and headed for Chestnut.

                        “Wait!”

Hiatus glanced over his shoulder and grinned. Cedar sighed and lowered his head.

                        “Bark, go find Everest”

                                    *                                  *                                  *

            Everest, closely followed by Odin and Will dashed through the snow, sending the powdery stuff everywhere. With a laugh, Will play tackled Everest and Everest let Will “trip” him. Then the golden wolf rocked back onto his feet and playfully tackled Odin, sending him rolling dangerously close to a stream. Odin stopped just before the running water and stared at it petrified. Everest and Will stopped running and came over to see what was wrong.

            “What’s wrong with him?” Will asked curiously.

Everest just grinned and shook his head.

“There’s fish in the water”

As if on cue, a silvery fish flew out of the water, inches from Odin’s nose. The sandy wolf yelped and flew back a few feet. Everest and Will burst out laughing.

                        “Laugh while you can!” Odin barked dramatically. “But when they start eating us, I’ll have the last laugh!”

“No” Everest replied. “Cause you’re the slowest and they’ll eat you first!”

Everest took off with Will and Odin followed right behind. Both darted through the trees, confusing Odin until they drifted apart. Everest crept along and soon spotted Will. Will nodded and Odin came into view, nose to the ground. Everest grinned and nodded to Will. Each slowly counted to three, and then took off, making Odin jump. Laughing, the pair looked back at Odin joyfully. Then, Everest turned to look where they were going when a wolf jumped right out in front of them. Everest tried to stop, but he was going too fast and the snow was too slippery. Will crashed into Everest. Odin crashed into Will. But all three stopped before they hit the intruder.

“Bark? What’s wrong?” asked Everest, recognizing Will’s brother.

            “It’s Hiatus! He has Chestnut and he says for every day you don’t return, he’s going to… he’s going to…”

“It’s okay” Everest comforted, temper starting to rise. “I’ll go back with you and we’ll get her away from him”

Bark nodded, biting his tongue to hold back tears.

            Hiatus glanced up at the sky. The sun was turning the sky pink. The moon was visible now too. Cedar paced back and forth, not taking his eyes off of his daughter. They waited longer until the sun disappeared but the sky was still light.

            “Time’s up” Hiatus said simply. “Guess he’s no hero after all”

Hiatus smiled and approached Chestnut. Hiatus looked at Cedar for a reaction then lunged for his daughter. He never got her. There was a blur of gold, a spray of snow, and Everest had Chestnut in his teeth instead… several feet away from Hiatus. Everest murmured something to Chestnut, never taking his eyes off the big white wolf, and gave her a nudge toward her father.

“Hiatus… just heard about the reward. If I help you find me, do I get a reward?” Everest asked quizzically.

Hiatus scowled at the taunt but nodded, cueing Arrow and his friends to get Everest. Everest noticed the threes gashes and gave Hiatus a pleasant smile.

“Nice battle scars there” he said politely, walking toward Hiatus. “Must have been a heck of a fight to get those”

            “Nope” Hiatus replied, just as calm. “I got them from aimless youngster who thought he could stop things that were out of his paws”

Everest let a smile play across his face.

“Still, must have been embarrassing to have something like that happen in front of your whole pack…”

Hiatus frowned.

            “Enough of this” he growled. “Just get him”

Arrow, Ice and Echo lunged forward, snatching Everest. The golden wolf just laughed. Cedar motioned his pack to move forward and Everest frowned at them.

“I’m fine” he said, twisting his neck to try to see the pack.

            “Then you won’t mind coming with us” Hiatus growled, beginning to lose patience.

Arrow shoved Everest hard and the gold wolf fell face down into the snow. Slowly, he picked himself up and shook off the snow.

“Just one thing…” he turned back to the pack. “Odin, Will, if you trust me, don’t follow me”

Suddenly, Everest felt himself being picked up by the scruff of the neck. That was demoting…

            “If you’re going to act like an immature brat, you’re gonna be treated like one” Hiatus said, hardly able to contain his joy.

Everest didn’t complain or even try to get away. His mind was cooking something up…

            Odin and Will watched miserably as their leader was carried away.

“Now what?” Will moaned.

            “We need to go after him!” Odin barked.

“No! Didn’t you hear him? He said not to follow him”