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Tell me if it's good.
Aleu was running. A pack of wolves was chasing her, and they were not tiring, like Aleu quickly was. They were running through a vast valley that didn’t seem to end. There were no trees, rivers or even animals. It was completely deserted. The only movement was the snow falling to the ground.
Aleu managed to scrape by the wolves and escape the valley. She passed a mountain, which was caked in snow. She soon noticed that wherever she passed, there was no life. Nothing stirred, only the thundering of the wolves’ paws on the soft, white ground. But Aleu didn’t have time to ponder in the mystery of where life had gone; she was being chased by a blood-thirsty pack of wolves.
She reached the shore of the island before long. The wolves were gaining on her. They were no longer running. They were smirking, their eyes glowing red. They trotted slowly and menacingly towards her, making sure that Aleu was frightened.
Aleu had no where to go. It was too late to run; the pack surrounded her, and the Ice Bridge hadn’t formed yet. Aleu was going to die.
She looked up at the mountain. A wolf stood there, looking on at the terrifying scene, so white that it made the snow look grey. It did not try to rescue Aleu, but it merely disappeared into the fog that surrounded her.
Aleu turned back to the pack, which were barely three meters away from her. They could easily jump onto her and kill her in one bite. But they didn’t. They just continued to advance on her. To Aleu’s surprise, they suddenly stopped at only two and a half meters away from her. All but one wolf sat down. The one that was still standing circled Aleu. After several rotations around her, it stood in front of her again. Aleu began to relax; her fears disappeared, and began to feel safe again. But this feeling was short-lived. The wolf leapt at her.
Aleu woke suddenly, her breathing fast and uneven. She looked around her. She found herself in her cave, one of the many that the wolves shared. But since Aleu was the leader of the Great Pack, she received a private cave. The Great Pack was a large pack made up of nearly all the wolf packs on the Island. When Aleu arrived at the Island from the Ice Bridge, her pack only consisted of ten or so wolves. The other wolf packs on the island joined them, creating a huge pack, and so it was called the Great Pack. It had about thirty to forty wolves now.
Not all the wolf packs on the Island joined the Great Pack. One pack refused to join them, saying that the Great Pack was trying to take over the island and all the animals and life on it. Of course it wasn’t true, but this pack was now a threat to the Great Pack, because the Great Pack knew that the smaller pack would barely sleep until they were destroyed.
Aleu slumped back down to the ground, a bit more reassured that she was still in the safety of her cave. After a few more minutes of rest, Aleu left the cave and stepped out into the sunshine, where she let out a huge yawn and a stretch. She looked over the island and all the animals that inhabited it. Some of the wolves were sleeping outside their caves in the morning sun, enjoying their freedom, peace and bounty of food.
Aleu trotted down from her cave located in one of the highest peaks in the mountain. There was a small, narrow path that led down to all the valleys and forests, and of course, all the other caves. Normally, the Island would be lush and green, but winter was coming, since everything was already coated in a thin layer of pure white snow.
Life here with all the other wolves, being free, was bliss to Aleu.
Aleu had the dream again. Only this time, there were more than wolves chasing her; the caribou had turned against her too. But like last time, the wolf pounced at Aleu, and like last time, Aleu woke abruptly. She was panting heavily, while her pupils were growing back to their full size. She stepped out of her cave again, and basked in the warm, morning sunshine.
She looked around her. She could see some humans, looking tired like they’ve accomplished a great job, getting into a boat, and sailing away. Humans were no threat to Aleu, apart from the one time Aleu was nearly shot by one. But she just thought the humans were just wandering around the Island, appreciating its beauty and bounty. It was something Aleu does quite a lot.
xxXxx
“What happened here?” one of the wolves from the Great Pack exclaimed in horror, as it entered one of the Island’s most popular valleys. The trees were gone, along with the animals and life itself. All that was left was the wooden stumps from the trees. The wolf ran from the sight, and alerted some other wolves from its pack.
They all returned to the sight, all gasping in fear and terror. The scene sparked many questions.
“Who did this?”
“Did anyone see what happened?”
“Why weren’t we told sooner!?”
And it went on, no one being able to answer anyone’s questions. But then someone piped up and said, “Where’s Aleu! She’d know what to do!”
“Yeah!”
“Marrka! Go and find Aleu at once!”
A light beige wolf stepped out of the crowd, and ran to the other side of the Island, where the mountain was, and where Aleu was herself. He began to walk up the path to Aleu’s cave, when Aleu was walking down to find some food.
“Ah, hello Marrka. How are you?” Aleu asked politely as she saw Marrka.
“Something terrible has happened! You must come at once!” and Marrka ran off, leaving Aleu looking puzzled, but she ran after him. They both reached the dead valley within five minutes after running at top speed. Aleu was shocked at what she saw.
The whole pack turned to face her, and they all began to ask their questions.
“What do you know of this Aleu?”
“What happened?”
“Why did this happen to us and the caribou?!”
“Please, brothers, sisters! Calm down!” Aleu shouted over the words of worry and fear that came from the wolves mouths. “There must be an explanation for this! There is no point in fighting each other, otherwise the pack will split, and soon we will all be fighting, when all the time, there was a reasonable answer!”
The wolves began to quiet down. The last thing they wanted to happen was to have the pack split into several smaller packs, or even worse, into no pack at all, just each and every wolf fighting each other.
“Now, split into two groups. One group can wander the other valleys and fields; see if there’s anything wrong, or if you’ve found anything. When you’ve found something that could explain what happened, come to me at once. I will be here, with group two. We will look in this valley, and see if we can find anything promising. Now spilt, and get to work!” Aleu ordered. The wolves did as she said, half the pack going into the other fields and valleys, the other half staying in the dead valley.
Aleu began to sniff around, to see if she could sniff out a creature other than the ones that live on the Island. After a good twenty minutes, there was no clue as to what happened.
“Oy! Everyone! Over here! I think I’ve found something!” A dark brown wolf named Parka, shouted, as he stood next to a cave that no wolf or any other animal inhabited.
Aleu rushed over with everyone else. They all crowded around the cave, Parka still standing next to it, and Aleu at the front of the crowd.
“There’s a strange smell around it too, but I don’t know what it is,” Parka said, as he pushed back a bush to reveal very odd objects, but they looked very dangerous. One of them Aleu was able to recognize.
“That! It’s a saw! It’s used for cutting things! I saw one when I lived back at Nome!” Aleu said, pointing to one of the sharpest objects.
“Hmm, then you might be able to smell out which creature has been here,” Parka said, letting Aleu brush past him, to sniff some of the objects. After a few seconds, Aleu managed to figure out what destroyed this valley.
“Humans.”
“Kaia, go fetch the other group. I have an announcement to make, and everyone has to hear it.” Aleu ordered Kaia.
Kaia separated herself from the stunned group of wolves, and ran off into the other fields and valleys, where half the pack was scattered.
Fifteen minutes later, Kaia returned with the wolves behind her.
“What have you found Aleu?” one of the wolves cried, stepping out from the group of twenty or so wolves.
“Take a look for yourselves, maybe you’ll even recognise the scent that they have left.” Aleu said, pushing the bush aside again.
A few wolves looked at the objects with bemused looks on their faces.
“Have a smell,” Aleu continued.
They lowered their heads, only a few centimetres from the ground, and smelt the area.
“Hmm, there’s a strange smell all around, but I can’t figure out what it is.” One of the wolves said after several minutes of sniffing the ground.
“That’s because what was here was a creature you would have never heard of, let alone be close enough to register its scent. Humans were here.” Aleu announced.
“Humans? Aren’t they the tall ones, with hardly any fur?” a wolf named Aiya asked.
“Yes those are the ones. How do you know of them?” Aleu replied.
“My brother Azac spoke of them many times. He told stories of them, taking over the world, destroying the homes of other animals, and using the space for their own homes. He said what they did was horrible to watch, because they killed the animals too. He said to always stay away from them, otherwise they kill you.” Aiya explained to all the wolves.
“Yes, that is wise advice.” Aleu murmured, before mounting a tall rock, to address her clan. “Everyone, I have some bad news. Humans were indeed here, and like Aiya says, they plan to take over the island,” Aleu announced, to much whispers and murmuring. “But we can take them. I saw them this morning, sailing away on a small boat. There are very few men, and we are great in numbers! We can easily take them! Those who are willing to fight, follow me.” Aleu descended from the rock, and lead most of the pack away. The only wolves that stayed were too young to fight, or already had pups to look after. These wolves left to the safety of their caves.
Little did anyone know, the outcast pack that had refused to join Aleu’s clan, were watching intently, and what they had in mind was not pleasant.
xxXxx
“Aiya! Keru! Farisa! Brannon! You will keep watch during the night, and make sure the humans do not come near the caves, where the mothers, pups and the elderly will be. I do doubt the humans will attack the mountain and its caves, but we can take no risks. Now, the strongest wolves will be stationed all around the island on the shores, to fight any of the humans. The strongest wolves will be determined by a contest, that will be held soon,” Aleu shouted over the Great Pack.
“What about the rest of us?” one of the youngest yet strong-willed wolves called out. “What will we be doing?”
“Those who do not succeed in the contest will be separated into two groups. One group will be “A”, the second is “B”. Let me explain how this will work: any human who gets past the strongest wolves around the shore will then be attacked by group “A”, who will be inside the valleys and fields, while group “B” will help any injured wolves that need it. Then “A” and “B” will swap duties, until the humans are too weak, die or flea the island. Any questions?”
There were no questions. The wolves understood Aleu perfectly.
“Good. Remember, the Great Aniu has blessed us. We have twenty new wolves that will be old enough to fight by the time of the battle.”
And the clan began to plan their attack in more detail. After many hours of plotting and planning, the wolves were dismissed, and they all began to head for the safety and warmth of their caves. Aleu, however, stayed behind to keep planning.
xxXxx
“Ha! So you really do think that Aleu is doing all she can to help? You’re even stupider than I thought,” Parsa cried over the growls of the wolves from the Great Pack.
Parsa was the leader of the “Outcast” Clan, who had refused to join the Great Pack. She and her pack of ten wolves had come across the Great Pack who were all heading to their caves, after a long night of planning their attack on the humans. Aleu was still down in the valley, and had no idea that Parsa was corrupting her pack.
“Aleu has always led us well! How dare you to think otherwise! Now we must get to our caves, so get out of our way!” Aiya growled.
Parsa did not back down, and neither did her pack. This was a risky move, since they were outnumbered.
“You’re “great” leader is nothing but scum!” Parsa shouted, while the growling continued. “She is the source of all the change. It is because of her that everything is changing!”
“How could that be?”
“She lived with the humans. I saw her. I was one of the wolves that lived on the outskirts of Nome, I saw her nearly every day. Now the humans want her back, and they will not stop until they get what they want!” Parsa lied. This was ridiculous, because, if anything, the humans wanted Aleu away from them. They had no need to come and find her, and Parsa knew it. But she had the Great Pack completely fooled, and that’s just what she wanted.
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