Dawnmist: Cliff of Shadows

Chapter 5

A howl shattered Luna's fragile layer of sleep, forcing her eyes to crack open. She darted her view around the den, noticing the other two Apprentices. They were awake and growling, and starting to head out. Luna followed them into the camp where all the other wolves were gathered. Ice stood on their rock, their gaze watching the wolves intently. Once Luna sat down beside the other Apprentices, the Alpha howled and all wolf heads turned to her.

"I call you here for a major issue. The river bordering us and MistPack" they sighed, "...is drying. It has not refilled, and the last rain was almost a moon ago. All wolves must drink only once a day until the river returns to normal."

"But it doesn't add up!" Shouted Twinkle, his amber eyes staring as if they'll bring back the water.

"We had water before and there was no issue! Why must you do this, Silvershard? What have we done to anger the spirits?" Whimpered the gray she-wolf, Cypress.

"Maybe," barked Sage, casting a hostile stare to Luna, "that Lone Wolf has something to do with it."

"I didn't do anything!" Luna shouted. "Stop blaming me because I'm a Lone Wolf!"

Sage bounded in front of Ice's rock, meeting every wolf but Luna's eye. "Think about it! Ice had her patrol, and now the water is dangerously low!"

Luna growled, but she saw Blaze rush ahead before she could speak. Blaze stopped a few paw-lengths in front of her, her muzzle curling to reveal teeth. "You're only splitting sides further. Listen to her! Listen, she did nothing!"

"Liar! I bet she did and is sabotaging the pack!"

Cypress stepped to Sage's side. "I agree with her. You're doing this because you're her mentor."

The clearing filled with barks of agreeing and disagreeing, neither side convincing the other. Eventually, the sound wrapped so thickly on Luna's ears that she jumped between the arguing she-wolves and faced the crowd. "I know what's wrong! I know why this is happening!"

Perhaps some better words could have been selected. Sage barked another rant of Lone Wolves, only to be cut off by Ice. They gave such a deep, commanding bark that the clearing fell silent at once. "Stop, all of you! Luna, if you know why, tell us now."

Their suspicious tone held Luna back at first, but she calmed herself and said, "There's something in the river. A blockage. Last night, I had a dream about it. A spirit wolf came to me, and that's what it said."

"A spirit wolf? I bet you're just making it up," Sage laughed, but Ice stared her muzzle shut. She cast a curious gaze at Luna. "What color was it?"

"It was white, with a black spot on its left eye," Luna answered. She felt pressure along her back as the crowd started to whisper. Ice barked once more. "It sounds like Indigo... but I don't believe he was giving a message. You said it was a dream, so that's all it must be."

Luna let her hopes fall. If the Alpha wouldn't listen, who would? Her eyes scanned the crowd, eventually falling on Blaze.

"Meeting dismissed," Ice barked, going back into her den. As the wolves dispersed, Luna walked over to Blaze, who was quarreling with Sage. The Medicine Wolf saw her coming and growled, but Blaze ignored her. "Hello!"

"Blaze, I was thinking... maybe we should go upstream?"

Blaze appeared to think about it, but Sage mocked, "and you'll have a bunch of meaningful hallucinations that tell you exactly what you need to know, right? You're insane, Lone Wolf. Stop trying to be special."

She flicked her tail and left. Blaze sighed, "I don't know if she'll ever accept you."

"Why does she hate Lone Wolves?"

"Oh, erm..." the she-wolf lost her words and stared at the ground. "It's a personal thing. She doesn't want me to tell anyone."

"I understand," Luna waited a moment before asking, "I have an idea about the water, but we'll need to go to the stream. If another wolf says I'm delusional, I'm going to lose it."

They ran into the forest, their paws crunching leaves and twigs. Gurgling reached the she-wolves' ears, and soon they found the stream. It had plenty of water rushing by, but the pebbly shore had exposed wet sand. The glistering surface tempted Luna to drink it, though she resisted. Blaze tipped her head, eager to hear her packmate's words.

"A river doesn't go on its own. Back when I was with my parents, we lived near a stream," Luna explained, "then one day the stream disappeared, and after my father-wolf went upstream, he found a fallen tree that blocked it. We got the tree out of the way enough for the water to flow again," she looked upstream, "So I think something similar is happening here."

Blaze followed her gaze, then traced it back to Luna. "But it winds into Spirit Mountain. Ice wouldn't want us going there."

"An Alpha does best for their pack. I'm certain Ice would agree with it."

"But what if she doesn't?"

Luna let her mind think. There were many possibilities for it to end badly, regardless if they went or not. But after seeing many positive outcomes, she calmly replied, "then we'll do it ourselves."

~~

Ice remained quiet after hearing Luna's explanation. The strings of tension tied the three together and only snapped after she replied skeptically, "It could be true, but it has been cloudy lately, so I'll rather wait for rain."

Luna felt the disappointment bounce off her fur. Their Alpha couldn't be this reluctant, right? Or was she still against Lone Wolves but tried to hide it? Whatever the reason, Luna shook her head. A reason is a reason, and she couldn't argue with it. You'll be in the light soon, Luna, just wait.