The Java Wolf Pack - Part 1

Wolves... gracefull and mighty creatures of the world. We own everything truly wild, the mountains, the trees, the rivers and streams. Our beauty and power, make humans both fear, and admire us.

There's a legend, as old as time itself, of a beautiful mountain range, right by the oceanborder of Nome, Alaska. It is famous for its forest, rich of game, and the gorgeous scenery of the open meadows. But most of all, it's famous for... us! A few years ago, my pack moved into this terrirtory, and we now call it home. We live in an one-of-a-kind cave, one shaped like a wolf! Out of her mouth, falls the great waters. We call this rock, Wolf Rock!

By now, you are probably wondering about, who I am... well, if you know a wolf named Puma, then you've got it! My name's Puma, and I'm the leader of the Java Wolf Pack! I've got quite a story to tell!

Well, my story began the day that my siblings and I where brought out of the den. We where rambunctious as ever, rolling around in the grass and play-biting. My father, King, was taking a snooze, while my mother, Goddess, was watching us youngsters. Ofcourse, as the curious one I was, I never could quite help myself! I can remember atleast.... well.... I can't even remember how many times I almost got myself killed! I can only remember the really serious ones. The one I will never forget, was the time I was almost killed by hunters! Well, like most of the really long stories I drag myself into, this one is a real good one! It just happened to be that same, lazy old day that I was just talking to you about. My papa saved me, and sacrificed his life for me... well, I don't want to get ahead of myself... it really is a story worth telling!

Well, as I just said, it was a very relaxing, laid-back day. I was chasing a grasshopper, up to the point when it lead me straight into an open field. I was too curious to just head back home, so I kept going forward. My ear was itchy, so I scratched it with my foot, and in the process, an oak leaf fell on my head! I shook it off, pouncing on it, and the noise I was making scared some rabbits. They took off running, with me after them. It wasn't long until I became really tired, and decided to slow down. As I watched the rabbits running off ahead of me, I heard a loud "SNAP!" I gazed over, shocked! One of the quick little creatures was caught by a snare trap! I became very worried for the poor little rabbit, so, instead of hurrying back home like I was taught in a case like this one, I went to see if it was alright. There was blood everywhere! The small, furry brown creature was dead! I stared, terrified! It looked as if the snare cut the animal in half, with only the bones keeping the two parts together!

My instincts told me to run for it, but before I could, I found myself trapped in a net! I attempted to bite through it, but the rope was too strong. As the tall, dark haired man picked me up, I screamed for my life. My scream echoed through the mountains. Before the man could throw me in a cage in the back of his truck, a large figure pounced ontop of him, knocking us both to the ground. My father removed the net from under my paws, and pushed me out of the way. He pleaded me to hide in the grass, where I would be safe. I obeyed him, as I was too terrified not to. I watched his brave and heroic battle, against the man. For a minute, I thought that my father was going to win, but as soon as I saw the hunter pull out the long rifle, disaster! The next thing I knew, I heard a loud gunshot, followed by the terrible echoing of my father's screams. The pure power of the gunshot knocked me off balance. When I regained my suddenly lost power, I saw that the truck, along with the man, was gone. The only thing I could see within a million miles, was my father, laying in the ground, near death. All I could hear, was the slow sound of my own breath.

I ran to my father's side, hoping, praying, that he would be okay. I nudged him, and heard a cough. This would be the last time, I would see his strong, blue eyes.

"Puma, look at me..." he said.

I looked up at him, with tears rolling down my face.

"There, there, little Puma. Don't cry. It wasn't your fault.

(sniffs) "Yes it is, daddy, yes it is! It's all my fault! Please don't leave me, please don't leave!" I cried.

"Puma, it wasn't your fault..."

I looked to the ground, and closed my eyes. As a tear fell from my cheek, I jumped into my daddy's arms.

"I'm so sorry daddy! I'm so sorry! Are you going to leave me?"

"Oh, Puma... my dear little Puma. Sometimes in life, things happen... and nothing already done can be changed or revived. This is one of those times, Puma. Just remember, I'll always love you, no matter what."

"Please don't leave, daddy! Please don't go!"

"Puma... take good care of your mother and siblings."

(Another tear falls) "I will..."

As I looked into his eyes, I could see the pain he was going through. I licked the wound on his neck, hoping it would get better. My father smiled, and lay his head down on the ground, closing his eyes, and taking his last breath. He died a hero. A real father. One who would die for the ones he loved. I wanted to be just like him.

A million things were going through my mind at that second. Between all the tears, the pain, the broken heart... I knew he was in a better place.

I walked home slowly that night. I treasured every paw print of my father left in the dirt. This was my way home. When I got back to the place where the leaf fell on my head, I stopped dead in my tracks. Like many times before, my father's screams played over and over in my head. This time, the screams were louder, more terrifying. Then, I realized... life is the most precious thing on earth. I started crying harder, and ran with all my might, almost like I was trying to get away from the guilt.

That night was a long night. It was a night full of pain and grief. It was nothing I have ever felt before. And I hoped that I would never have to feel the same pain, ever again. It was not only my grief that cut right through me, it was also the grief from my family, my mother, my brothers and my sister. The hardest thing I had to do that night, was break the news to my relatives. But the hardest thing I had ever done in my life, was letting go of the one I loved so much, the one I looked up to, the one who I wanted to be just like.

Well, there you have it! That's the day I will never forget. It was also the day where my father proved he was a real hero, a real father. But my story isn't over yet! Infact, that's not even the half of it! I still have to tell you about the time of struggle, the time I met my other half, and also, the long journey, towards wolf rock!

A few weeks after the passing of my father, there was more trouble. A famine had just struck the area. Most of the prey have either died, or traveled away. It was almost winter-time. My mother was out most of the day, searching for food, and barely catching anything. On rare occassions, she would bring home a mouse, if we were lucky, two mice. But that was barely enough to feed the entire family. So my mother decided to eat most of the meat, and give us her milk. That was the best way to get food into all of our bodies.

Sadly, most of my siblings did not survive within a week of the start of the famine. It was only me, my mother, and two other siblings. We were all weak, and after a few more days passed, my mother only had one pup.

Weeks went by, then months, then finally, one year. I had grown up to be a very strong, handsome young wolf. My mother always told me, that I looked just like my father. And everytime I looked at my reflection in the water, I couldn't agree more. I had grown to look almost exactly like my father, the one I wanted to be like, more than anything.

One early Summer morning, I was peacefully relaxing by the stream near the den I was born in. When I lay my head down on my paws, I felt something tickling my nose. I opened my eyes, and there, I saw a small mouse playing around in the grass infront of me. I had not yet lost my pup-like behavior, and pawed at the mouse. It scurried off quickly, and yet again, I couldn't help myself, so I chased after it. It wasn't long, before the mouse found a hole to hide in. Not wasting a second, it attempted to jump into the hole, only a split second too late. I caught the mouse's tail, and was sensing victory at last! My first successful hunt! All of a sudden, I heard a voice.

"Whatcha doin'?" asked the sweet voice.

A little annoyed by that obvious question, I ignored it, and kept on focusing on my lunch.

"Well?..." the voice continued.

All stressed out, I accidentally lifted my paw, and let the mouse escape.

"Maaaan, look what you made me do! Because of you, I-"

As I looked up to confront the face, my heart stopped. She was BEAUTIFUL! She... she... she was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! All I could see, was an adorable, black face, with beautiful amber eyes! Her smile was stunning, and don't get me starting on those eyes, those be... be... bea-u-tiful eyes, that still make get "people bumps"! I fell head over heels for that girl!

"My... my... my name is... P...P...Puma." I said, fidgeting and studdering at the same time.

(giggles) "Hi there, Puma! I'm Mira!"

"M...M...Mira! Th..th..that's a beautiful n...n...name!" I said yet again, in a silly, clumbsy, "swept-of- my-feet" way.

The two of us bonded closely, and fell deeply inlove. I decided to run off with my love, and start a new pack. Mira had told me of a perfect place to raise a family. She described it, as perfectly as she was. I barely heard a word she said, I was daydreaming. But I knew she would lead us both to a perfect place, a perfect home, for generations to come.

I ran away with Mira a week after I met her. I knew our love is real... because... well... look at us now! We are still mates, right? And we're both still happy! She's the one for me! So, anyway, I still felt a bit guilty for leaving my mother alone, but I'm sure she found another male, since I was out of her way.

We traveled more than 300 miles, getting closer and closer to our new home each day we traveled. Mira seemed very tired, but you could still see that positive attitude, and excitement in her heart.

On the fifth day of the journey, we were in for trouble. I had tried to keep us off of as many other wolf pack territories as possible. But this time, I have failed. They were all around us! There must have been more than thirty wolves! Their leader, was a large, black wolf. His eyes stared fear into his opponents' hearts! But not me... I knew what what it was like to lose someone you love, and I wasn't about to let Mira die in my arms too.

The mighty wolf circled me and my mate. You could see the fury in his eyes, and the coldness of his heart. The wolf had many scars from past fights. His red glowing eyes seemed to make him almost ghost-like. The pure rage of this rival made me almost want to retreat, but I knew that I had something worth fighting for. Even if it meant death for me, I was going to fight for Mira, like my father fought for me.

As the wolf charged and attempted to knock me over, I ducked, sending the opponent tumbling. He wasn't hurt badly, but this unsuccessful attack, made him even more furious. He charged again, this time at Mira! I could see what he was about to do, so, without thinking of my own life, pounced at him, landing on his nose. I scratched his eye, leaving a deep scar. This blinded him, and sended him to a hault. As he caught his breath, the massive wolf looked up and told me...

"Ooooh, you! You've just made the biggest mistake of your life!"

He summoned his troops to attack us, when the moment was right.

I took a step back, standing beside Mira.

"Don't worry, Mira... I'll protect you." I told her.

"Who said I needed any protection?"

"Well, uhm, me..." I snickered.

"Puma, I don't need any help! I'm stronger than you think I am! I'm a descendent of the mighty White wolf, mother of Aniu, Grandmother of Balto. You know Balto, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do, he's the dog that saved the humans."

"Exactly! I'm pure wolf, for I have no dog blood in me... that makes me Balto's half cousin, doesn't it?"

"Yeah... but-"

"You've forgotten the saying of the White Wolf? The same phrase Balto used to get the medicine to Nome?"

"No... I didn't forget! It's... maybe a wolf can."

"EXACTLY! Wolves can! They don't know the word "impossible"... no real wolf ever went by that word! What are we? We're not lap-dogs, are we!? We're Wolves! All great and Powerfull!"

I looked over at the wolf, which was now foaming at the mouth. Then, I looked back at Mira.

"Well... you've got half of it right for 'junior' over there!"

"The point is, we're wolves, not scaredy cats! We're strong, and willing to fight for the ones we love. We don't care about ourselves only, and give all the blame to others, do we!? We should fight together, or we won't stand a chance! Those wolves over there aren't anything but a bunch of buffed up freaks, who think they are all that. Life's real strength, is love. Embrace it, don't ever let go. Use it as the key to opening a new door, to lead us to the world where we want to be in, where we can safely raise our pups!"

"Who ever said anything about pups?"

"I did..."

We looked at eachother, strengthening our hearts, and focused our minds on taking down the enemies. Mira was right... the wolf's pack was not only more weak than powerful, it was more empty than anything else. I then knew, what we had to do.

"You take the ones on the left, I take the ones on the right... don't worry about tiny over there, I'll deal with him later."

The battle went on for a few minutes. Most of the wolves were taken care of by that time. I was actually really surprized to see my girlfriend beat up so many guys! She used a different approach at getting to them. Mira's attractiveness sure payed off during the battle! She lured in the guys, by going up to them and telling them something sassy, like... "you're not allowed to hit a girl". They'd look surprized, and were hesistant, and most of the time, would say something smart right back at her. Then, Mira would put her tail under their chins, and flirt with them. I guess I was a little jealous, but I knew that it was pretty much the only way to get us out there... alive! Then, right when they fall head over heals, Mira attacks! The love-struck idiots are always too weak to fight back! After they're on the ground, Mira licks them on the forhead and says...

"Sorry there, I'm taken... now don't go tryin' to mess with my man, 'cause I'll beat the snot out of you! Got it?"

Aaaaaaah, she's a keeper, ain't she?

Anyway, before I tell every single detail of the story and get you all lost, I have to tell you about the wolf that was leading the whole thing.

He just stood there, watching his troops being killed or badly hurt. That jerk, it was time to take care of him. I knew he would be very hard to get at. Being twice my size, it seemed nearly impossible to defeat him.

The only possible thing that I could do to kill him, was to bite his feet and legs, sending backwards, into the river behind him. I would only have one chance, and if he figures out what I am trying to do, that plan will fail.

I started by lunging at him, scratching his nose. That caught him off-guard. Now, was the time to attack. I started biting at his paws, piercing my fangs through his feet with every bite. The plan was working! To keep the enemy from figuring out what I was doing, every time I bit his legs, I'd scratch his face, to distract him. He was not fast enough to catch me during the lunge attacks on his face. By the final bite, the wolf was right at the edge of river. It was a long way's fall, since I was chasing him up a hill. On that final bite, when his hind leg was steping back, he noticed what I was trying to do. He smiled an evil grin, and took the step back towards me.

"You honestly though that you could rid of me this way, did you?"

We just stood there. As he was busy blabbering to me on how awsome and all powerful he was, I was looking around to see how to somehow knock him over the side of the cliff. Then, there I saw it! A small log was sticking out of the ground, not far from the cliff's edge. I thought to myself, that if I were to push the log further, it would cause the edge to crack even further, and it would fall with the enemy. But, there was a price to pay... it would be impossible to save keep myself on the cliff as well. The log was infront of me, and therefor, I would not be able to get out of the way intime. I would have to make the same sacrifice that my father made... certain death! All of my past life's tragedies suddenly replayed in my mind, all at once. I felt something overpower me. Without a moment's notice, I leaped onto the log, sending it forward like a lever. The wolf attempted to jump onto me, but it was too late... the rock was crumbling to pieces. I tried to jump onto the solid rock, but slipped! Now, there was only one of my paws on the side of the cliff, and I was hanging for my life! Right when the rock beneath my paw was about to crumble also, I closed my eyes tightly. Suddenly, as I felt myself falling, someone grabbed me! It was Mira, my love! She saved me!

"Thought that I'd just let you fall, did you big guy?" she smiled.

I smiled back at her, releaved. Mira pulled me up, along with the help of three other wolves.

"This is Samir, Haley, and Cujo!" Said Mira.

"Hi..." I said, stilled catching my breath. (pant) "Thanks for saving me, there!"

"No problem! Happy to serve!" announced Samir.

"Well, I guess we should be going..." said Cujo.

Mira and I looked at eachother.

"Hey, you don't have to leave! Come with us, if you want!" I said.

"You mean it?" said Haley, surprized.

"Yeah, I mean, you saved me, right?"

"Thanks!" said all three.

The five of us started walking on, continuing the journey to our new home. Mira and I told them all about Wolf rock... well... mostly Mira! Samir, Haley, and Cujo all seemed very excited about Wolf rock.

"Well, Samir, Haley and Cujo... we need some positions, right?" said Mira, looking at me.

"What would you guys like to be?" I announced.

Samir, Haley, and Cujo looked at eachother, surprized at the honor.

"I've always been good at pup-sitting!" said Haley.

"Good! I think we should be having a few soon!" said my girl.

"Huh?" I said slightly confused. "A few what?"

Mira just gave me a kiss on the nose, and we kept on walking.

"Well... what about you, Samir?" asked Mira.

"I love hunting! Could I be a hunter?" Samir happily asked.

"Ofcourse!" We both said.

"And... Cujo? What position do you want to be put in?" I asked him.

"Well, sir... I also love hunting! Could I be a hunter with Samir?"

"Sure thing!" I winked at him.

We were a new pack! A small one, but it was still a pack! Meanwhile, I was still asking Mira what she meant by "a few". Everyone was laughing at my constant questions. Everyone seemed to know what was going on, but me!

It took us two more days to arrive at our new home. Mira was very tired, all of us too, but she was the most. I still didn't figure out what was going on then. They all just smiled at me.

Wolf rock is the most beautiful place in the world! This is where we belong, this is our home. The perfect place to raise young, eat all you can eat, and live a long, happy life!