Running with wolves

Chapter 13

Sky padded confidently through the palace halls pausing to flick her tail at a mirror. She had grown much in the past moon. She was taller, her muzzle had sharpened and all traces of her pup fur had fanished. With her fur groomed till it shone Sky headed through the back door into the garden, with a respectful nod towards the graves Sky curled up in a sunny patch beside a bush. "Do you still think Banan should rule?" Sky blinked the sun out her eyes as Charlotte approached "will you bite me if I said yes?" "Why?" “Look at everyone who's died in his sick attempt at power, do you really think he will stop now?” Charlotte's eyes glazed “He murdered his mother…” “Yes, so all that's left is me. He sees me as just some insignificant pup, he believes it'll be easy.” “What do we do?” Sky flexed her claws drawing lines in the dirt “I will fight. I refuse to lie down and do nothing as he drags my people into endless wars.” “And here's me thinking your training went to waste.'' Both Sky and Charlotte jumped as they turned to see Nymph standing by the back gate “if you're going to fight you're going to need an army.” Sky shook her head “No i won't let anyone else be dragged into this insanity.” Nymph lashed her tail snorting “Do you really think you can take on his army with just you? He's not just sitting idly, he will be collecting allies as we speak and you should be doing the same.” Before Sky cound answer Nymph whipped around and stalked off. “I hate admitting she's right.” Charlotte said, shaking her head before heading back inside, leaving Sky to think.    

A rattle woke Sky, with her head still groggy with sleep she scanned the garden for the source. On the other side of the garden was a brown wolf pup. He was standing on his hind legs to try and drink from the birdbath. “Damn child” Sky growled charging over, she shoved the pup to the side just as the birdbath began to topple. Arching her back Sky caught the birdbath panting with the effort, how is this thing so heavy? She thought through gritted teeth. “Are you ok pup?” Sky felt bad for the little one, he was crouched to the ground shaking showing the whites of his eyes. “I'm sorry I didn't mean any harm, I was just….” letting the birdbath slide from her back Sky went over to the shaking pup and flicked her tail over his ears. “No harm done. What's your name, little one?” the brown wolf scuffed his paws “umm” “You're not going to be in trouble.” Sky nodded as he looked up to her with pleading eyes. “I'm Clawpaw!” she said, puffing out his chest.       

Sky sat in the kitchen explaining to Charlotte what had happened while Clawpaw raviously ate. “So what are you going to do? He's sweet and all but… surely his own mothers looking for him?” 

Night had fallen, after finishing her Queenly duties and checking up on the town Sky headed up the steps towards the palace. She had one more job to do before heading to bed. “Clawpaw?” The young wolf was crouched in the garden staring at the moon. At the sound of Sky’s voice he stood up and began to sneak away. “You’re limping, are you hurt?” Clawpaw let out a sigh and turned towards the Queen startled by the look of concern in her eyes. “No, I'm not hurt. I was born like this.” As Sky sat down listening intently Clawpaw rolled his eyes. He was used to being ignored and having people stare at his limp, not many actually took the time to listen. In the back of his mind he wondered if Sky really cared but he was just being silly, she's the queen it's her job to pretend to care. “I'm not my mother,” Sky said, twitching her whiskers with amusement. “I don't pretend, I vowed to protect every creature within my walls, and I will protect them from outside forces and their own minds. Please share your story.” Clawpaw shivered. Her intensity scared him, her claws were sunk deep into the ground and her ears were flat against her head as if an enemy stood in front of her. Slowly he crept closer, placing his tail on her shoulder. “I was born different.” Raising his front left paw, Sky saw a long unhealed pink scar. “I was born with a claw embedded in my paw, as I grew the claw dug deeper and deeper until it pierced my pad. My mother never believed me when I said my paw hurt, she would just say I should be lucky my sister was born without one of her claws.” Clawpaw lashed his tail as he continued, his anger rising to the surface. “My mother never let me play with my sister, she’d say if i wanted my paw to get better i needed to rest yet when i did rest she’d then moan that i wasn't doing enough to help. When we were old enough, mother would take my sister into the woods to teach her to hunt. I asked why she never took me but she would just snarl at me and say it would be a waste of time. I would forever be lame and incapable of hunting. I wanted to prove her wrong so badly but one day when I woke up both her and my sister had gone, I tried to follow their scent but….” “But you were never taught how” Sky finished. Clawpaw lowered his head ashamed. Sky had so many emotions flooding out of her but on her face she wore a smile “I have an idea.”