Trison

finding hope

~1261 words
     The wind continued to blow into our freezing new den. The winter breeze had picked up and only made the cold worse for Jason and I. We huddled together for warmth and tried our best to not move because then a pocket of freezing air would replace that area. The snow blew hard onto us and this winter was the worst I had ever seen by far. The soft screams had still been played on repeat, making my anger grow and grow. We were starving or at least I was starving. I felt myself grow weaker and weaker as the only water we had was melted snow and tears. I could imagine the sweet taste of spring honey or the warm feel of the sun on my back. I was growing more and more worried, about to accept the fact I will freeze here and die like my mother. Unable to control my fate.
     The soft pitter patter of paws makes me jump. Jason didn't appreciate me moving, showing it with a sickly groan. I tensed up and closed my eyes. It was probably north pack here to kill us. A small head of a brown wolf peeks from corner. A sickly smile is glued onto my face. Justin walks in with about seven white rabbits in his jaws. "Thank god you guys are ok! I was worried you were killed in the heat of the battle." Justin says as he cooks the little rodents. Jason and I lick our lips because of the succulent smell of the roasting meat. We all curl up together for warmth and protection against the cold.
    The storm just worsens by the second, hail and snow colliding to make giant snowballs. We sit at the back of the cave and huddle together, staying uncomfortably close. A small kiss is planted on my head and Jason wraps his arm around me, holding me close. The breeze makes me shiver more and begins to blow out the small fire we have.
    I've just about had enough of standing still. I run as fast as I can out into the white blur of cold. The sweet smell of open air fills my lungs and causes me to gasp, my eyes filling with tears as the cold begins to attack me. I don't care though. I keep running, laughing and screaming as my paws stomp onto the once flattened white blanket. I let out the loudest howl I possibly can and giggle at the sensation of being free.
   Then, the storm stops. The cool crisp air is quickly over taken by the warm Sun that comes out of the fluffy clouds. The snow slowly begins to melt because of the sun and the soft wind makes my fur blow. Warmth begins to turn to extreme heat. One minute ago, I was absolutely freezing but now I would do anything to get snow all over me. "Who dares enter my kingdom?" A small voice echos through the brush. A beautiful young girl with pure red hair walks through the forest. Her eyes are a wonderful shade of blue which seems to have an orange tint because of the large flames arising from her back. "I am hiding from war, ma'am. Please do excuse my presents in your... Oh what the hell. The name is Tris. I come from east pack. War has came from shadow knights. Me and my pack members have hidden from the fight." I say, staring directly into the eyes of this young royal. She gives a slight laugh and smile. "I'm Jinx, flame princess. My people and I welcome you." She says, giving a small bow. "You did mention more, did you not," I nod slowly, my ears twitching in irritation from the sun's beams.
   Jinx and I race back over to the cave to get the boys. Justin and Jason are sitting in the cave, their ice coated bodies huddling close. Jinx walks up closer, relighting the small embers to a giant bonfire. Jason immediately gets up and runs to it, his hair almost catching flames as he sits extremely close. Justin inches forward, his weakened body barely even covered in muscle. I didn't realise it before but the three of us are covered with black and blue patches from frostbite. It has been almost a week since we've eaten real food so our ribs are poking from our skin. Our fingernails are bitten down to our cuticles. Our hair are tangled into giant knots and our skin has large chunks torn out. We look like savage beasts from thousands of years in battle.
    "How bad is the damage out there?" Jason says, curling up in a small chair in the flame kingdom. "My knights have searched far and wide. Fight didn't break from east pack territory but we did find bodies from north pack mixed in with east pack." Jinx states, slowly drinking out of her mug. My eyes dart to the ground, tears flooding my eyes. Jason looks over at me and walks over. "Tris... I know it is... hard for you but I... we need you to stay strong." Jason carefully wipes the rivers of salt water flowing from my lakes of eyes. He softly kisses my forehead and holds me tightly. I rest my head on his shoulder and sniffle. The image is stained in my mind with permanent marker. My mother lieing there with a sense of fear flying around like flies around a carcass. "If you want, I can show you to your rooms. They aren't far from one another." Jinx stands up, slowly placing her mug onto the table. Jason and Justin quickly glance at each other then back at Jinx. "We were wondering if we could possibly get a room all together." Justin stands up and walks over to me and Jason, his brown hair lightly covering his face. Jinx doesn't hesitate to nod and walk down the direction of the hall.
     "Here. It's the master suite that's usually for the guest of honor." Jinx unlocks the door and opens it. As we open it, we are greeted to a large pure white room with two master beds on one side and a couch with a TV on the other. "Now the thing is, one of you will have to either share or sleep on the couch." Jinx says, walking back out of the room. "I will leave you to get set up." I hear the door click and close. Jason picks me up and sits me on the bed. "Alright Jason. Your on couch." Justin says, falling on his back onto the bed. "Well I could just share with Tris, ya know. Jinx did say we could share." Jason smiles and kisses my cheek. I shrug and nod, crawling onto the bed to get under the covers. It felt like forever since I've been able to curl up under blankets without having my litter mates all over me. My litter mates... did they make it out? Did they meet the same fate as mother or did they make it out with father? Jason immediately sees my sadness on my face and gets under the covers next to me. He runs his hand through my tangled hair and kisses my forehead gently. "Tris. I promise to never leave your side. I will make sure you get through this." He says, his hand pulling me closer to him. I slowly close my eyes, the last thing I hear is him whispering into my ear.

"I love you"