Fox and the Neverwolf- a Syfy's Neverland Fan Fiction

Chapter I: First Hunt

The forest of Bull Island was silent this day. The birds made no sounds; the squirrels stayed hidden in their trees. The wind was little to naught. The deer lay in their fields, dozing lazily under the hot sun. Only one doe was foolish enough to be in the forest. Little did she know of the eyes in the shadows.

The doe ventured further into the forest, to a river from which she could drink. The eyes followed her every move soundlessly. As she bent down top sip from the cool water, she saw a shape moving in the shadows across the river. Instinctively, she stood up straight and listened intently.

Suddenly, they leapt out of the bushes all around her, snarling and extremely hungry. The young doe crouched in fear and jumped the river with ease, streaking off into the forest. The wolves gave chase, very intent on catching their prey.

Atop a small cliff, another group of wolves sat in wait for their packmates to chase the prey into their range. One, a large gray and black Neverwolf, paced impatiently.

"Where are they?" he growled to the others. "Shouldn't they have led it here by now?"

A black she-wolf rolled her eyes. "Oh, calm down, Rock," she woofed.

"Hazel is right, Rock," a brown wolf huffed. "They're on their way, now sit down and wait patiently like the rest of us."

Rock snarled and sat down with a thud. "Happy now, Bolt?"

A smaller white wolf leaned over to Hazel and whispered, "Now if we could just work on the patient part."

Both wolves shook with laughter. Hazel shook her head at the white wolf, her mate, Rolf, and then turned to the smallest wolf there. Her brother, Rye, was a rusty brown Neverwolf with gold markings on his face, back, legs, and tail. He was the runt of the litter, and therefore had a tree spirit guardian who made sure he was always okay. Red Flower was hovering over him now, inspecting him as always.

"You're handling your first hunt well." In reality, he looked very nervous. Even the smallest noise made him jump and spin around.

He glanced at Hazel. "Oh um... thanks, I guess, though the sarcasm was staggeringly obvious."

"Sorry," she yawned. "All this waiting is making me tired. How about you, Rock?"

The big wolf glared sharply at her, but he didn't respond. Bolt had made him promise not to say another word until the others got here, and Hazel thought it would be fun to torture him. However, Bolt clearly did not agree. He, too, was staring at her. His stare wasn't saying that he wanted to claw her ears off though. It was just telling her to shut up or he would be forced to do so.

Rolf pricked his ears. He heard small hooves against the ground, getting closer and closer.

"They're coming," he barked. "Everybody, get ready for the leap."

Rye crept to the edge of the cliff. It wasn't very high, yet he did not wish to leap off it. Red Flower must have sensed his apprehension, because she tried to comfort him just then.

"Do not worry, Rye," she whispered, though only he could understand her. "You will be perfectly fine. Just focus on the doe when it enters the clearing below. And remember, there are the others who may land on it if you miss. This is only your first hunt; do not be a hero."

Rye nodded slowly and stared ahead at the bushes from which the other group was to force the doe to enter the clearing. It broke into the clearing and he tensed to jump. It neared the cliff wall and realized couldn't go on any farther. It tried to go back, but stopped when the other group of wolves cut it off from escape.

Rye looked at Rolf for the signal, and the white wolf howled. With that, Rye leapt first, the doe looked up and dodged him, but he managed not to injure himself too badly. It was under Bolt next, and he hit his mark. The others jumped down all at once, and Rock and Hazel helped kill the animal. It took all three of them to carry the catch back to the rest of the pack.