The Wolf

Chapter 7-The first contest

It was the first day of the contest, Starfrost woke up with a start, his pelt heaving and sweaty. "I... I had a nightmare..."he whimpered. Starfrost recalled his nightmare, bringing forth the memories.

"I killed him..."

Starfrost gasped for air, he remembered now, it was Sliverpaws, she killed his father. The last words bounced in Starfrost's mind, making him panick. "NO! IT CAN'T BE!"he growled, springing on to his feet, Starfrost bounded down the hill, towards the Grandmother Tree. Aquafur stood beneath the tree, his fur neatly preened. At least a few dozens wolf pups sat down facing him. Starfrost spotted Snowberry's reddish-brown fur immediately and joined his sister. Starfrost opened his jaws to share his nightmare but stopped mid-way, deciding not to scare his sister. Aquafur gave a mighty howl, calling all members of Sun pack forward. "Dear Sun pack members, elders and betas, welcome to the one-hundredth and twenty-first contest,"Aquafur growled, lifting his head in pride.

Starfrost upon seeing his pack mates all gathered together, he wiggled his tail in excitement, anticipating for the start of the first task and forgot all about the dream he had. " I shall annouce the task now!"as Aquafur mentioned the start of the first task, a hush fell over sun pack." Behind me, the Grandmother Tree is now invested with bald eagles, just yesterday, the bald eagles have finished laying the last of their eggs, you and your pack mates will be called foward one by one to retrieve three of their eggs on the tree without falling off. You shall be ranked from highest position to lowest, now just a reminder that the highest rank is to become a appretice of the beta while the lowest rank is to become a sweeper, incharge of cleaning up the dens."

A large pup sneered at the mention of the sweeper. Starfrost narrowed his eyes, this was the cub of Sliverpaws, he had the same blue eyes as her. "Strikestorm!"Aquafur called up the first contestant. The large pup stood up and padded proudly towards the Grandmother Tree. Knowing that his large size will drag him down,Stikestorm chose an nest that is closest to the ground. He sprang up and stood on his hind legs, trying to kick off the ground. Once he kicked off, Strikestorm immediately dug his claws into the tree trunk, peeling off some tree bark.He slowly advanced towards the targeted nest.  Just then, an bold eagle flew down to attack him, it lashed it's sharp talons at Strikestorm's pelt, drawing blood. Strikestorm howled in pain and his front paw slipped. Strikestorm clang onto the tree with all his might, trying to pull himself back up. Once he balanced himself, he barked angrily at the eagle and swiped  it out of the air, causing the large bird to crash into the ground. Starfrost gasped, shocked as the bold eagle slid down the tree trunk, staring into space, its eyes blank, showing the whites. Just like how his father did in his nightmare. Strikestorm managed to reach the nest and slide two eggs into his jaws. Just as Strikestorm reached for the last egg, another eagle attacked with full strength, pushing Strikestorm off the tree, probably furious at Strikestorm for killing it's flock mate. Strikestorm came crashing down into a bush, the two eggs in his jaws cracked and the egg yolk flowed into his throat, choking him. "Bring him to the medicine wolf!" Aquafur demanded at once. Strikestorm is carried away by two medicine wolves.

"Next we have Snowberry!"Aquafur annouced, nodding at his pup, havng high hopes for Snowberry. Starfrost gulped, wishing the best for his sister. Snowberry bolted up the tree and clung onto a branch, her hinds clawing below her. Just when she is about to fall off, her hinds legs managed to find a lower branch-an natural feet rest. Snowberry noticed that the branches forms an ladder, allowing her to climb up. She found a nest not guarded by any eagle, and stoled away three eggs, collecting them in her wide tail. Once she finished, Snowberry leaped from branch to branch, getting closer to the ground each time. A bald eagle suddenly spotted the missing eggs and scanned the area, finding the culprit. It attacked Snowberry, striking Snowberry from the side. Snowberry balanced herself, protectng the eggs from the eagle's sharp talons. Slowly, she made her way down. Just as Snowberry's hind paw touched the ground, the bold eagle shoved her hard in her chest, causing one egg to drop and drop to the ground. Snowberry growled angrily. Aquafur nodded his approval, proud that his daughter has at least managed to retrieve two eggs.

As the pups is called up one by one, Starfrost grew more and more anxious. Finally, the time came.

"Last but not least, we have Starfrost, the last pup born last year"Aquafrost annouced the last participant. Starfrost stood up, trembling from head to paws. He padded slowly towards the Grandmother Tree, took in a deep breath and backed a few steps before charging towards the tree, clawing at the tree trunk and bolted upwards. Starfrost's huge burst of speed and energy scared away a few eagles and shook the tree branches vigorously. Excactly three eggs toppled out of the nest, landing on Starfrost's forehead, breaking it's fall. Starfrost balanced it well on his head and climbed down. Once his soft paw pads touches the ground, Starfrost heaved a sigh of relief. He gently dropped the three eggs on to a soft patch of grass which acts as a cushion,making sure that none of the eggs will break.  The whole pack howled and barked, congragulating Starfrost. A few bald eagles dived down to attack him, but Starfrost trotted away proudly, reminding the wolves that he was the only one that managed to get all three eggs. 

Aquafur licked Starfrost's ears, telling Starfrost that he has met up to his standard. "I would now like to annouce that Starfrost has achieved the highest score in the first contest! The next contest will be even more challenging, so don't get your hopes up!"Aquafur said, arching his neck,"the next contest will test your agility, the task is to dive deep into the water in the river and retrieve the fastest swimmer that lives within it, that's my clue, you will have to figure it out yourselves," Aquafur finished, swishing his tail. Starfrost gulped, he had never been good at remembering things, he was sure that his teach(the wolves that educates the next generation)have told him something about it. But that didn't bother him as much as his sweaty pelt and tired legs did. Starfrost decided to worry about the next contest later, instead, he should focus on getting some rest. He dragged himself back into the den, ready to retire for the night.