A family lost, and a new one gained

Orca

It was a nice, warm spring day. Two adult wolves had been lying in a small light clearing near the den they shared with their pups. They had no pack, but were merely rogues that had found an attraction to each other, and ended up with pups together. While they were lying in the clearing, their pups, or rather juvenile youngs had been playing around them. Tumbling around, running and giggling together. The light female was beautiful, and noisy, the dark male, silent and observant. She had a hard time catching him, since he seemed to know what she would do, even before she did. They played for a long while, until both of them, light and dark, were tired of it. They lay on the grass, panting, and the older sister, born before the male, looked down at her brother.

"That was loads of fun, right?" Her voice was like the song of a bird, and the dark male had always admired her. If they hadn't been of the same blood, he'd probably have gone for her as his mate, and already at 7 months old, he was ready to attack or even kill anyone that hurt her.

The male didn't have the use of his voice, but he smiled brightly at the female and nodded excitedly and wagged so that his entire body was shaking. He grinned the silent laugh that he had always had. They understood each other so well, and they were like peas in a pod. As the only two pups from their parents, they were tight.

The dark male walked up to his parents, licked their mouths and bumped his head lightly against theirs, before walking away, as usual sleeping a short ways away. He was easily tired, not from life in general, but from being with other wolves.

On top of that though, he had barely slept that night, as her father had taken him with him, so that they could communicate with the stars. He didn't talk out loud to them, couldn't, but he was sure that they understood his thoughts anyway. He had wished that he and his family would get a pack. He knew that the winter had been hard on his parents, and he sometimes wished that his sister had others to play with, when he couldn't handle more.

He put his head on his scarred front leg and looked at his mother, and thought about her stories of the big black and white whales living far away. She had given him a name, and he loved it. But she had also told him that his special coloration reminded her of these whales. She had only seen them a few times as a pup, but she remembered them and the stories of them. Sometimes she would lovingly call him Orca, which he'd laugh at, and nuzzle her happily.

Then he looked to his sister. The light female were lying between her mother's dark front legs and had already fallen asleep. He felt his heart fill with all the love he felt for his little family. His eyes began to sting, and a few tears found their way down his light cheeks. These were happy tears though.

He closed his eyes, and were soon asleep. He didn't know that this was the last time he would see them alive.

When the bear came and mauled his family, he was still sleeping, and not even the sound of their screams, woke him up. He was in a deep slumber, dreaming of playing with his sister in a big flower filled meadow. They were tumbling around, just as they had been before he went to sleep. The sounds that came from him, was what made him aware that it was all just a dream, though. He ran, back and forth, screaming and yelling in joy.

When he woke up, it only took a second for all that joy to disappear. The green and beautiful clearing, was now filled with blood. The grass had been torn out of the dirt, and at the far end of the clearing, lay what had once been his beautiful sister and wonderful loving mom.

The male pup was angry at himself for having slept through the slaughter of the females in his family. He couldn't see his dad anywhere. He whined without sound, and the tears welled up in his eyes, distorting his view as he walked the way from his spot in the shadow, through the bloodied clearing and over to his family. Without a sound, and without noticing, he had started whimpering, and he kept at it, as he placed his head on his mother's still warm neck, and licked it gently. Then he turned to his fair sister, and the tears started falling, and he couldn't stop himself from howling into the warm night. In his mind, he was howling loudly, as he'd sometimes heard other wolves do in the distance, but in reality, it was just a series of squeaks.

He let himself fall onto his stomach, and laid there between his dead family. He whimpered yet again, and as the night fell, his sounds turned to silence, and his tears turned dry. He was still sniffling, and sometimes he'd come with another squeak.

He didn't know for how long he'd laid there, when some leaves started rustling, but he got scared, but didn't have the energy to move.

Pearl

The sparrows sung their happy little songs, and the light colored female, Pearl, followed them through the forest. They seemed not to have any cares in the world, and she longed to be them. She was a part of a pack now, and everyone seemed to be expectant of her. What had she to offer them? She knew nothing of their ways, their traditions. Their entire way of living was strange. During the first meal she shared with them, she had tried to eat along with the others, but was scolded for she had eaten out of turn. That was the day she learned her label: omega.

The forest within the pack’s territory was Pearl’s only sanctuary, the only place she was left to do things her way. A few days or so before, she had been given a tour of the pack’s territory by a male by the name of Solazar. The male had been rather quiet, but Pearl preferred the silence.

Having been too lost in her thoughts, Pearl hadn't noticed that the sparrows had stopped their singing. Once she realized this, she stopped following them and stood still. The forest was eerily silent. There could only be one reason for this, and Pearl knew it. A predator. Her fur bristled a bit from her fear. She knew not what to do to defend herself, she had never had to do such a thing alone. Hunting was one story, being hunted was another.

The wind blew towards her, and Pearl could smell the irony scent of blood. All of her instincts told her to run back towards camp, but she suppressed them. She needed to know what had happened. Cautiously, Pearl walked briskly towards the origin of the scent. As the smell grew more pungent, Pearl focused more and more on the sounds around her, just in case there was danger nearby. The leaves and twigs strewn across the forest floor crunched underneath her paws and finally Pearl saw the origin of the smell.

The sight was enough to make Pearl’s eyes begin to water. Blood. Bodies. From what Pearl could see, there were three. She walked closer to them and had to turn her head away for a moment to try and get some fresher air into her nostrils. Looking down at the bodies once she had reached them, she noticed something. One of the bodies, a dark male pup, looked completely unharmed. She stood there a moment, dumbfounded. The pup hadn't uttered a sound. Perhaps he had died of starvation when his mother died? Pearl pushed away this thought, refusing to lose hope that the pup had survived. After a moment, Pearl prodded the pup lightly with her paw.

“Are you okay little one?”

Orca

The male pup was still breathing, but he was lost in thought. 'Why weren't I killed? Why did the stars let my family die? Why are they gone?... I wish mother would nuzzle me..' His breaths were shallow, not because he was hurt, but because he couldn't find the will to breathe deeply. His tail was hanging, onto the ground, long as it was behind him. He was exhausted, which also was the reason that he hadn't lifted his head when he heard the leaves rustle. The breeze was coming from behind him, so he couldn't even smell whatever it was that was coming, and part of him wished that it was the predator from before that had come to finish the job.

When he felt the gentle push and heard the soft, but slightly hoarse voice ask him something, he lifted his head a bit, and looked up at a beautiful golden shewolf. His eyes were sad, and it was clear on his face, that he’d just experienced a big loss. He wanted to tell her what had happened, but even if he had had the gift of speech, he wasn't sure he'd been able to tell how he'd slept through the killing of his family, both because of shame and exhaustion.

It took him a few seconds to realise that this other wolf, was a female, and that knowledge alone, made him whimper without more sound than that of air shot out of his throat, once again reminded that his own mother would no longer look at him, and tell him about big whales.. That he'd never again play with his fair sister.

He tried to stand on his weak legs, and staggered over to her. He was not as small as he had once been, but he felt as a newborn pup when he looked up at her, and looked into her eyes for a short while, before looking away.

'How will I explain to her that I can't speak? How will she understand? How?' His thoughts went on again, as he stood there, legs out wide to help him keep the balance, and tail hanging down loose.

Pearl

The pup’s silence had frightened her, but as he stood to move towards her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. The sight of him made her smile, but her smile faded as she saw the sadness in his eyes. What had happened here? How had this small pup not been killed? Why was he so quiet?

Nearing him, Pearl lowered her head so that she could get a better look at him. He looked weak, almost as if he had been born days before, but Pearl knew this was not the case. The scar on his leg was visible which meant he had been harmed before, so he was definitely older than his strength let on. So as not to frighten him, Pearl said, “I am going to pick you up, okay? I’ll take you somewhere safe,” and proceeded to pick him up gently with her mouth. She wondered if the pup’s mother had ever carried him in this way. Her father, Mitsubishi had never done this, but this was possibly not normal in other wolf families, although Pearl hardly considered her father family.

Before leaving the area, Pearl looked around and smelled the air, just to be sure that there were no predators nearby that could easily kill her while she was busy holding the pup. When she deemed the coast clear, Pearl began to walk away from the area towards Druid camp.

Within the next several minutes, Pearl came upon the river nearest the Druid camp. She reasoned that the pup must not have had any water for hours, even a day or two at most, so Pearl walked closer to the river’s edge. A large rock lay near the riverbank and Pearl set the pup down on it. “Would you like water?” she asked him, motioning her head towards the river.

Orca

The pup looked at her, returning the favor of observing her mood and trying to figure out if she would try to do anything to him.

Despite being 7 months old, he was full of the blood from his mother and sister, and he definitely seemed smaller than usually. He didn't see any threats in her body language or face, and that was the reason he dared step up so close, and also the reason he let her pick him up. That, and the fact that he was so tired. Most of all he just wanted to sleep.

He nodded when she told him that she'd pick him up, and it was clear in his eyes, that he already trusted her. Not so much that he'd let her do everything to him, but enough to relax a little with her near. He dangled from her mouth, almost relaxed as he did. He dangled back and forth, sometimes feeling the soft fur of the female on his behind.

It didn't take long before the male pup in the jaws of the gentle shewolf, got to a river. He looked at it, with a curious gleam in the eye, not scared. He'd just never seen a river this big before. He looked at the female as she spoke again, and nodded as he licked his dry mouth with what little saliva was left on his tongue. He wagged his tail a little, and tried to convey how much he really wanted some water. He staggered towards it, but he wasn't sure it was smart to go all the way out into it.

Pearl

As the pup hobbled closer to river and licked his mouth, Pearl understood that he indeed wished for water. At this point, it was obvious that the pup either couldn't talk, or didn't want to. It was unsafe for the pup to go towards the water himself, and Pearl feared he would fall in. Should she hold the scruff of his neck as he drank or would it be better to grab him as she had before and hover him right over the water? Finally, Pearl decided that the first option was best.

For the second time, Pearl gently grabbed the pup and placed him near the water’s edge. Before grabbing onto the scruff of the pup’s neck, Pearl told the pup what she planned to do, “You can drink the water, but I'm going to hold onto you so you don't fall in.” With that, Pearl proceeded to securely yet gently hold the scruff of the pup’s neck with her mouth.

Orca

The pup looked back up at Pearl, still unsure how he'd ever make himself heard by her, even without the possibilities of speech. 'How can I make her see what I need? I wish Shila was here.' The dark pup thought of his light sister, and whimpered again, though he hope that the fair female heard him.

As he was brought over to the water's edge, he leaned all the way close, and looked at his face a little, before dipping his lower jaw and swinging water into his mouth with his tongue. He felt a bit better already short after that, and he made a big point of dipping his entire face into the water, and get the dried out tears out of his fur, and the same for the blood that was still all over his face, and body.

He turned and looked up to the female, his face softer now, and he tried to get out of her grip, so that he could get all the way up onto shore again.

He felt more like himself, and he even licked her face as a thanks for her help. He wasn't sure what he would, or even could do now. So he'd decided that if she was okay, he'd just keep close to her.

Pearl

The pup had licked her face in gratitude, and Pearl allowed him to wiggle himself out of her grip once she had turned her head so that it was no longer facing the river. With the pup safely on the riverbank once again, Pearl sat down facing him and rested for a moment, not taking her eyes off of him. What was she to do now? The pup most certainly had not belonged to a pack, so would bringing him to Druid be a bad idea? Then Pearl shook her head a bit, realizing that she herself had not belonged to a pack when she joined Druid. They would accept the pup, and if they didn't, she’d make them.

After a few minutes of thought, Pearl focused her full attention back on the pup. She smiled down at him, hoping that her smile would be a sign that everything was going to be fine. “Alright, little one,” Pearl shifted in her sitting position and continued looking down at the pup, “I'm taking you to the safe place I told you about earlier. Before I do that though, I need to know that you trust me, okay?”

Orca

The dark male pup walked around, trying to get used to walking again. It probably sounded silly, but after an entire day of lying still, with no thoughts, nothing but the scent of his dead mother and sister in his nostrils and no movement, the pup had somehow gotten out of practise, despite being almost a juvenile. He was shocked and traumatized, but a part of him, was completely sure, that if this female hadn't arrived, he would've died out there. Either from another predator, or from thirst and hunger. But as it was, he was very much alive, though his head was still fuzzy.

When the female said something, he focused on her again, and tilted his head a little. He had a feeling that she was probably from a pack somewhere, and he remembered his parents talking about having to move the den out of the territory sometime. The thought of them called tears into his eyes, but he blinked them away, and tried to listen to her.

'A safe place? I'm no longer sure anywhere in the world is safe... But okay.. I trust her.. I think. If I don't like the place, I can always go back here, right?' the juveniles thoughts wandered, before he trotted over to the female. He nudged her face, and wagged, with a serious look in his eyes, and the white ears turned forward. It was all he could do, to try to convey that he trusted her. Even if it wasn’t entirely true, he was curious, and smart enough to know that if he didn’t let her help him, he might die. And despite part of him wanting to join his family, there was a bigger part of him, that badly wanted to survive.
He wondered if the safe place, would be her pack. He wasn’t sure that would be a good idea, but he wanted to try.

Pearl

Pearl watched the pup as he tried walking on his own. It was interesting to see that even after what he'd been through, he was willing and able to cooperate. His ability to adapt to his situation was highly admirable, especially for his age. Had Pearl been in this situation, she most likely would have lost her will to live. She was dependent on others to keep her happy and confident, and if there was no one for her to depend on, she was nothing.

The pup’s soft fur brushed her face as he nudged her, and she loved the feeling. It was almost as if someone had brought a downy soft duck feather up to her muzzle. Looking down at the pup again, she could see the determination in his face and became increasingly hopeful for him. He was going to be fine.

It was beginning to get a bit colder, and feeling a sense of urgency, Pearl stood up and pushed him gently with her muzzle towards the direction of Druid camp. The dark colored pup seemed alright at this point and Pearl thought that a bit of walking would do him some good. She walked slowly forward, making sure to constantly monitor the pup to see to it that he was not wandering off or lagging behind.

“We are heading towards a pack camp; the pack calls itself Druid. You will undoubtedly be safe amongst its members, including myself.”

Orca

The pup wasn't sure that he did was to survive, but something in him, told him that he had to try. The only wolves he'd ever been with, had been his little family, and he was a little scared that once this seemingly friendly shewolf found out that he couldn't speak, she'd abandon him. He didn't really have reason to believe that, but that was the thought that kept turning in his fuzzy head.

As the female stood and pushed him with her nose, he looked a little grim, but decided that he would trust her, at least for now, even if it was hard not to think that she would give up on him, somewhere along the road.

He looked at the way she walked, slowly but surely, in a pretty elegant way, and tumbled after her. He was shuddering a little from the cold, still colored a little by blood, but mainly he felt more secure now than he had for hours. If he had been able to, he would have told the female how grateful he was, but as it was, he just stayed close. One time he even ran under her stomach, almost tumbling over his own paws.

They walked for a while, and he realized quickly, as the scents of other wolves crept into his nostrils, that they got closer to what was probably the densite. Without thinking about it, he started walking in a more secure, and also more quiet and sneaking way.

Pearl

Once she knew that the pup was following her, Pearl began to head towards Druid camp. She walked slowly so as to allow for the small pup to keep up with her. His cooperation was surprising; she thought he would not have been fond of the idea of joining a pack. The thought of Druid made Pearl a bit nervous. Would the pack accept a pup? They had accepted her, but she was able to hunt for the pack if they needed her to. A pup was helpless and just another mouth to feed. Pearl feared for the pup, but she knew it was more likely that the pack would accept the pup.

The sound of leaves crunching under the pair’s paws was all that could be heard for a while until they came closer to Druid camp. Wolves could be heard talking and a few even laughed. Finally, Pearl came to a stop just outside of the border of the camp and looked down at the pup. She didn't know his name and had nothing to address him as when she showed her packmates. What was she to call him? After looking the pup over and pondering for a moment, Pearl came to a decision. The pup seemed to be a gift, just like Pearl was to her mother, and Pearl believed that naming the pup something similar to her mother’s name was suitable.

“Before we head into camp, I need something to call you so that my packmates will have a name for you. Is it alright if I call you Kiro?” After a moment Pearl thought it best to explain her choice of name, “My mother’s name was Akira, and she died shortly after I was born. I never got to know her, but I would like to have known her, just as I'd like to get to know you.”

Pearl smiled down and the pup and took notice to his facial pattern: it reminded her of something. An Orca. How lovely that was! She motioned for the pup to follow behind her as she walked into camp, “This way, little orca.”

Orca

It only took a few seconds from this female stopped, and to the pup did. Even that short amount of time, let him get even closer to the pack, and he could actually peek in there, but instead, he turned to her, tilting his head slightly, before sitting down. As his ears were still slightly floppy, they flopped a little when he flipped his head. He listened to her, and as he heard his new name, he nodded, and wagged a little, tilting his head back to the normal angle.

He stopped wagging as he heard what he thought might have been sadness in her voice, and whined a little, though it was mainly just a wheezing sound. As he heard her voice again though, it was warm, and it came with a name that was so close to his real name, that he felt his heart hurt a little, from sorrow.