Lily

Chapter Twenty-Three: The News

Lily looked around warily at her surroundings. Grass green and brown dirt walls, where she could see the blue light reflecting off of them. She got to her paws and glanced around even more as she regained her footing.
"Whoa!" a voice behind her said.
Lily jumped for a moment and glanced behind her. She had almost forgotten that this little cave was always inhabited by those three wolves.
"That was amazing!" barked the brown and white one on the right. "Spice, did you see that?!"
Spice- the brown wolf in the middle- looked amazed. His blue eyes were wide and his ears were forward. "She made it back..." he began. "No wolf who has gone in there has ever made it back..."
Lily turned her entire body to face them. She thought she had seen these wolves at some point in her life, long ago. The memory was faint, but she had a feeling that there was more to these wolves.
"You're more than just a 'secret group,' aren't you?" Lily asked them.
Spice tilted his head.
"You created this portal...right?" Lily guessed. "Y0u're the wolves who have magic."
Spice fell silent for a moment, then sighed, looking down at his paws and flattening his ears. "We have kept our secret hidden from others for so long to avoid anyone else finding this portal and risking their lives," he began. "But yes, we admit, we are the ones who created the portal using our magic. We are a small secret group of wolves from the other tribes who are against the wars who all grouped together to create the portal in hopes that someone would end it..." he paused. "...and that someone happened to be you."
Lily didn't know what to say to this, but she smiled at them and said, "thank you. Thank you for creating this portal."
"Anytime," Spice grinned back. "According to the portal's choice, you are the hero Lupinia needs. Your scars say a lot about how much you have fought."
Lily looked down at herself and noticed her scars were back again. She was definitely back in the real world.
"Now go on, continue your journey," Spice said. "I wish you luck facing the many adventures that await you next."
"Thank you," Lily grinned, taking one last look at them and the reflecting blue light from the portal that glimmered in all of their eyes at once. She began to exit the cave, rolling the giant stone back into place where it belonged. Once she had left. She had gone down the rocky slope towards the ocean, where she began to swim back to the Oldest Territory. She had to check up on Tiffany.

At long last, she arrived back at the Oldest Territory, greeted once again with the dull green trees spread around the area and the vines that wove among them. She had gone through the green forest part of the island to get to the snow forest area. Once her paws began to meet with the snow, she had spotted the pine tree that covered the entrance to the cavern. She trotted over to the area and slipped beneath the tree, avoiding the sharp needles of the branches, and into the cavern. The snow beneath her paws felt even colder, as it had when she first walked in there.
In the center of the small cavern was Tiffany, curled up with her eyes closed. She didn't look like she was sleeping; she looked too tense.
"Tiffany?" Lily called.
Immediately, the pup's head perked up. Her face lit up the moment she noticed Lily.
"Lily!" she howled and bounded towards her. She jumped up at her with such force that it sent Lily falling backwards. Lily lay on her back, giggling, as Tiffany repeatedly licked her face, wagging her tail.
"You're okay! I felt myself in a blue nothingness and I got scared and then I woke up but I didn't see you there so I tried sleeping again!" Tiffany barked. "I thought I lost you!"
"No," Lily said with a giggle. "It's okay. I'm safe now."
"Did you do it?" Tiffany got off of Lily and looked up at her, her eyes sparkling.
Lily stood up again and grabbed Tiffany's paw in her own. "We did it," she said. "I couldn't have done it without you.
Tiffany wagged her tail. "Oh, I'm so glad I met you!"
"I'm glad I met you, too." Lily lowered her head down and touched noses with Tiffany affectionately.

A few days had passed and Lily was beginning to help Tiffany's foot get better. Every day she hunted a rabbit or squirrel for her to eat, and would take her for walks around the territory to help her get used to walking on her hurt foot again. The more the days went on, the less Tiffany would limp. Of course, Lily always remembered to give Tiffany's foot a lick to keep it warm.
One day while Tiffany was napping in the cave, Lily was sitting out near the adoption center where some other wolves were having a conversation. She decided to listen in.
"The Wild Tribe has been developing that vaccine for a while now," said an orange and red wolf.
"Did you hear about what the infected wolves are doing?" a brown wolf asked. "They're rebelling against it. WL23 can make a wolf aggressive, maybe even evil. They say the vaccination will take away their 'true selves.'"
"Oh yeah, I've heard of something like that." said a hot pink and white wolf next to them. "The virus putting thoughts into a wolf's head that aren't real. Evil thoughts, specifically."
"Wipes their memory until treated," said a black wolf.
"Yeah, anyway, the infected wolves are planning to invade this place tomorrow," the brown wolf spoke. "They still have the instinct telling them to take our territory for themselves."
"And where'd you hear that?" the black wolf asked.
"I heard it from a friend who heard it from another friend who's staying in Wild Territory who heard it from a treated and healthy Wild Tribe wolf." said the brown wolf. "Those wolves from our tribe who are sheltering in Wild territory need to be careful." he paused. "...because the infected wolves are about to attack again. We'd better be ready to flee."