Wolves of the Moon #1: The Paws of Darkness

Chapter Two

That night, Spirit had a dream. It was a dark, almost starless night. Then, it was as if the sky rippled, and two large paws were being formed. Spirit tried to growl at them, or even yelp for help, but her muzzle was snapped shut, as if it was bound by some strong substance. In an erie bark, a prophecy was spoken.

Five wolves shall go east to seek,

The paws of darkness, at the highest peak.

Search through shadows and night for the forest dark,

And hear the stolen pups' bark.

Claws will tear, and the volcano must kill,

Holding prisoner in the flame, against all will.

With that, the giant paws tore at the sky, and dark red liquid dripped out. Then Spirit realized it was molten fire, dripping from the wound like blood. The she-wolf tried to scramble away to find that she was frozen in place, the lava slowly moving nearer and nearer. She barked in fear and woke with a start.

As she lifted her head, she saw that Snowdrift was still asleep, and Ice was prodding him with a claw. Nevertheless, the gray-white mass of fur lay there as motionless as a rock.

"Finally! I've been trying to wake you two up for so long! You sleep like hibernating bears, for the Pack of Spirits sake," Ice told her.

Spirit wagged her tail. "Ooh, I know what to do to wake the ball of fur up!" She dragged her denmate outside and into the forest until she found a large pool of water, and promptly shoved his head into the water. She lifted his head up quickly and ran as far away as she could.

"What did you do?" Ice asked as Spirit skidded to a halt inside the cave-den where the Learners slept. "Where's Snowdrift?" The silver she-wolf's eyes narrowed as she listened. "Wait for it..." They soon came upon Snowdrift, who had half his silver-and-white pelt soaked. His fur bristled slightly, and his eyes suggested that he wanted to kill someone.

"Who dunked me in the water?" he demanded, then Spirit looked at him with innocent eyes, then suddenly dropped onto her front paws, rear sticking up partially, and wagged her tail. She growled playfully and ran outside. (That's the dog version of fooling around or laughing, in a weird way.) Snowdrift ran out after her, with Ice on his tail.

In the clearing, Spirit jumped onto Snowdrift, but he quickly rolled over so that he could get onto the she-wolf who had pushed him into the water. The silver wolf lay on her back and put her paws close to her body, in the act of submission.

"Okay, okay, you win. Now get off, you useless lump of fur," Spirit barked. Snowdrift gave her a doggy grin.

"Not until you tell me you won't do it again," he told her.

"You act like a week-old pup. Fine, sorry, I won't do it again, unless you are really annoying that day, or if you don't wake up and we need to leave." The white he-wolf jumped off while Ice had his tail thumping on the hard-packed earth and his tongue was lolling out slightly.

"You guys are hilarious when you fight," he announced. Then the pure white wolf jumped to his paws. "Come on, we're Learners now, we gotta go get trained." He took off in search of a Hunter that would train them. When a wolf became a Learner, they would get trained by any Hunter and that way could learn different perspectives and techniques.

Snowdrift pushed Spirit playfully and flicked his tail on her. "Race you there!" he said in a yippy woof, and took off after Ice. A moment later, Spirit came running after him.

"Today, we will learn how to be stealthy. You'll need to be careful where your footing goes, the amount of strength you put in each paw step, and many more complicated steps to be successful." The tall hunter, Frost, announced with his deep and commanding voice. Frost was a skilled and strict warrior. His body was so huge, that inside of his thick white pelt, it could fit all three of the young learners. But beside his massive body, his eyes were also intense. They were a glimmering amber. In all, he was the scariest wolf they had ever seen. Spirit arched her back in fear as her ears flattened but soon straitened despite the small bodies of her friend.

"Step like this," he began, and put one paw after another, pressing his paws to the hard earth so there was almost no sound. Then they all tried, copying him pretty well but still noticeably worse than the large hunter.

"No! Come on, Ice, lighter on your paws, Spirit, more confidence!" the long-furred pure white wolf barked gruffly. Again, they tried. Spirit was concentrating as hard as she could and stepped quietly but unevenly. So of course, she was pointed out for that. It seemed as if the harder she tried, the worse she did.

Badger droppings! she thought. That's it! I have to let instinct take over. She stopped concentrating and let her paws do the work. She could feel her pads pressing to the packed dirt so that she had even balance, but was stepping lightly so there was hardly a sound. Once she got the hang of it, she let her attention wander toward a pretty butterfly, which was hovering around some delicate orange blossoms.

"That's how you do it!" Frost's deep woof brought her back to the training session. "Perfect!" Spirit stopped and turned toward the others, who were watching her intently.

They spent the rest of the day practicing techniques to become a stealth master. Soon enough, when the sun was starting to dip towards the horizon, they were well practiced and all very hungry. Yes, very hungry.

"Okay Learners, you can now make your way to the fresh-kill pile! Soon you will be able to hunt with the patrols around the border," his gruff but proud voice announced. One thing that Spirit learned was that Frost may look like a tremendous bully but he was a huge softie. But the she-wolf also learned a lot. The young learners broke off into a run in search of the fresh-kill that would fill their hungry bellies.

"That was delicious!" Spirit exclaimed, trying her best not to howl with happiness. She hadn't realized how famished she was until she took a smell of the fat vole on the top of the pile. She licked her lips, and saw Snowdrift yawn.

"Let's sleep now, I'm so tired!" he told them in a sleepy bark. He trotted over to the cave, and a few moments later they could hear him softly snoring. Ice soon followed, then Spirit.

As soon as she fell asleep, the silver wolf could tell she was going to have a dream. A dark area of the woods loomed around her, light dancing around the heavy growth of leaves. She could smell another wolf, and Spirit eagerly began walking towards the smell. As the scent began stronger, she leapt over the bushes, thinking there was a wolf, but she couldn't see anything.

"Hello?" she called out uncertainly. A voice called out from the shadows.

"At night, when the moon is at its peak, find the four others by the river," the voice said. "Land stretches across the water, and you will find them there." Slowly, the bark and the scent faded.

"W-wait!" the she-wolf's voice rang out. "What do you mean?" But the other wolf seemed to have disappeared. But Spirit could have sworn she saw a faint blue mist hanging over a dark area hidden by trees and shadows. It almost distinctly made the shape of a wolf.

Okay, how was it? Horrible? Eh, oh well. I hope you liked it even though it was terrible, and @_-Fantastica-_  helped a lot so give her lots of credit too!