Lone Wolf

Chapter Two - Karmin

My only friend has left me to go turn himself in and possibly get himself killed. I wonder if I could follow them and somehow stop them, or just go with them. I should go catch up with them. I turn my head in there direction, I can still see them, I can catch-up with them. I wonder if I can contact Calum from here.

"Calum. Can you hear me? Flick your tail if you can hear me."

"I can hear you Karmin. What's wrong?"

"Can I come with you guys?"

I see Calum look back at Akari and I see her nod her head. They stop and look in my direction. Calum signals me over and I trot over to them.

"Thanks for letting me join you guys." I say to them, feeling great full.

"No problem. Its Karmin, right?" Akari asks me.

"Yeah. And you're Akari." I reply.

Akari nods her head and smiles. We continue walking, Calum leading the way and Akari and I behind him. Now that I think about it, I'm really worried about this. I'm heading to a wolf pack and there's probably over twenty wolves there. But, at lease I have Akari and Calum with me.

"We're almost there guys. Shouldn't be that much longer." Calum tells us.

"I'm surprised you know the way Calum." Akari chuckles.

"Ha! Of course I know the way!" Calum laughs then he glances back at me. "Karmin and I always map out the area and track where the soldiers come from. Isn't that right Karmin?"

"It sure is Calum!" I raise my ears and look around and spot a secret tree where Calum and I have a special item. "Ooo! Calum! Should I get the items for us?" I ask him, jumping up and down like a cub.

"Sure thing Karmin. And see if there's an extra one in there." He tells me.

"You got it." I say to him.

I run to the tree and climb into a hole in it. In there I find three bags that wrap around our waists. I toss Calum his and I put Akari's on the ground. I put mine on then walk over to Akari to put hers on.

"What is this Calum?" Akari asks, confused.

"It's a bag. Karmin and I use it to gather items that we think will be useful for us." Calum explains. "At one point we planed on building a den just for us."

"Interesting. What are the stones for?" She asks, looking at the colored stones on our bags.

"They represent our element." Calum replies. "We aren't keeping them on our bags, it's just temporary until we're able to wear them around our necks."

"Your element?" Akari asks tilting her head.

"You know we're gifted, right?" I ask her.

"Well, yeah." She replies.

"Well, we found these stones when we were exploring. We found them on separate days and on those days we were using our gifts in some way." I explain to Akari. "They just sort of appeared on the ground in front of us. We've been looking for something to wrap them around our necks but haven't had any luck."

"Hm, I think the packs Shaman might have something for you guys." She tells us. "Follow me, I can get you past the other pack members."

Calum and I carefully follow Akari through her packs territory. Her pack territory is huge. We sneak under bushes that outline all the dens individually, so we're jumping from one outline of bushes from another outline of bushes. I peak out the side of a bush to see this huge den, that must be the Alphas den. I see Akari jump from the bushes into the next outline of bushes, which outline the Alphas den. Calum is the next to go. He peaks out and points to the Shamans den. It's not that far from the Alphas den. I quickly jump to the next bush outline. We continue to crawl under the bushes to the Shamans den. Calum and I both stop and let Akari talk to the Shaman first. Calum and I both listen to their conversation.

"Zecra. I have a favor to ask of you." Akari tells the Shaman.

"What is it that you need, Akari? Shouldn't you be fulfilling the Alphas deed he'd given to you?" The Shaman asks her.

"I have completed that mission Zecra, well, almost." She lowered her head. "Zecra, I need you to help my friends with something. Do you mind if I bring them in?"

"Help, I may be able to do. Bring them in and we shall see." The Shaman tells Akari.

Akari walks out of the Shamans den and whispers to Calum and I that we can come in. So we get out of the bushes and quietly go into the Shamans den.

"Zecra, these are my friends. Karmin and Calum. They have these stones that are on their bags and they're looking for a way to wear them around their necks." Akari explains to the Shaman. "Do you have anything that may work?" She askes.

"Hmm." The Shaman begins pacing, then walks over to Calum and I. "Those are very nice stones. Do you care if I take a look at them?" The Shaman asks us.

"Oh, yes. You may look at them." I tell her as I take my stone off of my bag and I see Calum do the same.

"Here you go, uh,--"

Akari cuts me off. "Zecra. Her name is Zecra." Akari whispers to me.

"--Zecra." I say, finishing my sentence.

Zecra takes the stones from Calum and I. She looks at the stones for a while then begins looking through her items that are in her den. She sets the stones down on a short stone pillar. She grabs a pouch and sets it on the ground near the pillar. Zecra opens it and begins searching its contents. She pulls out what looks like a thin vine, and takes it over to Calum. She wraps it around his neck, she seems to be measuring. After she's done with Calum she uses her claws to cut the vine. Then Zecra walks over to me and does the same thing. After she's done measuring the vines, she walks back over to the small pillar. She reaches back into her bag and pulls out two shiny metal pieces. It looks like the stones would fit in there perfectly. And Zecra does just that, she fits the stones into each metal piece making charms. She looks up at Calum and I before attaching the vines to them. She looks back down at the charms and the vines and attaches the right vine lengths to the right charms. When she's done she walks over to Calum and I and puts them around our necks.

"Here you go young ones." She tells us.

"Thank you Zecra." Calum thanks her.

Zecra bows her head, saying "You're welcome." She then looks over at Akari and asks her. "Now what do you plan on doing with this wolf here? I believe he is a criminal, is he not?"

Akari lowers her head. "He wants to turn himself in." She sighs.

"I recommend you three get out of here as quick as you came here." Zecra tells Akari. She looks over at Calum. "Turning yourself in is normally wise, but in this pack it is not so wise. Alpha plans to eliminate you, along with any traitors or friends I'm afraid. So I suggest you take your friends and run." She tells him.

Akari bows her head to Zecra thanking her and we do just as Zecra says. We carefully and quickly leave her den and run out of the pack territory. I look back and see that Zecra is watching to make sure we are not being followed. After a while she heads back in and I stop looking back. I look back once more to see if we are not being followed and I notice a wolf silhouette walk into Zecras den and then quickly walks out and looks around.

"Guys! I think we may have a problem!" I shout to Akari and Calum.

They both look back and see what I see. The wolf that went into Zecras den is chasing us. We all pick up speed to try and lose him.

"Follow me guys! I know a place we can lose him!" Calum tells us as he takes the lead. We follow him to a place with what seems to be filled with tunnels of all different sizes. "Pick a tunnel you think you'll fit in and jump in it!" And we do just that.