Animal Kingdom - War of The Woods

Chapter 3: Forgiven

Despite the distance Azur had covered, he could still hear Lyracus barking at Heulia, and same went with Heulia's barking.

"We cannot just let him resign from his position, he is the best we ever had, why would he resign?"

"He is old and is becoming fragile, you can't expect him to be by your side for the rest of his and your life!"

"BUT WE NEED HIM NOW, WE ARE IN A PREDICAMENT!"

"AND WHATS WRONG WITH ZEGRA TAKING THE POSITION?"

Zegra's sister was a friend of Azur's and he didn't want to hear any rude remarks. He tried his best to listen to the sound of the wind brushing past the leaves in a consistent rhythm. But his mind eventually wondered into a world of thoughts. What if they didn't accept the resignation? What if they forced him down to the omega rank? What if he becomes the first lone wolf of the pack? Some of the thoughts he conjured up were nothing short of preposterous, but he couldn't help it. The fact that his paws were drenched in water was not reaching his mind either.

"AZUR! GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Delreaga stood tall, tail high in the air, eyes reduced to something less than slits. It looked as though she was fighting back the urge to snarl.

"Sorry Delreaga, I was just thinking again" Azur hoped beyond hope that this would be enough for him to leave peacefully. Delreaga said nothing, she simply nodded to the left. Without another word Azur walked away, head low, tail between his legs. Lyracus' barking could now be heard easily with Azur's acute sense of sound. They were back to talking about the raven alliance.

The burrows were now in view, the four omega's still standing their guard. Azur began to panic once more, what is going to happen to Subor? What is he going to say once he finds out what they said? Anxiety engulfed Azur as he pondered on the topic, what if Azur was turned into a lone wolf because he disagreed with the alpha? He couldn't say anything about his disagreement, he couldn't. Azur slammed into a rock as he once again was distracted by thoughts. Three of the omega wolves howled in laughter, one of the newer forms of communication. The other omega strode over to Azur to comfort him.

"You ok? Don't let them jerks get hold of yah, your just a little absent minded when lost in thought" His mothers words comforted him in a way that no other wolf could.

"Thanks Mother" Semsabi, like most wolves, rathered to be addressed via their first name instead of mother, but Azur claimed it was weird to call his mother by her first name, it was like he was talking to a good friend or sibling. They both regarded each other then parted. Azur always cherished the small moments he got with his mother. The pack found it disgusting that two beta's mated and brang three pups into the world. Subor was luckily able to regain his position and rebuild his trust between the alpha's via protecting them in a raid held by the owls, but Semsabi was no where near as good in battle, her talents resided within impeccable intelligence and agility. Semsabi was ranked down to an omega but trusted to raise her three young.

The wind seemed to stop quite suddenly when Azur stopped in front of his fathers burrow. Everything seemed to go silent and he thought about how Subor might react. He pushed aside the rugged rock with his forehead, the horrid sound of scratching bouncing of the walls of the human cave. 

Azur hated being anxious all the time. Every moment he wasn't thinking was spent feeling anxious. Azur's breath was heavy, Subor would probably notice. Each foot step seemed heavier than the last. Why did such simple things spark anxiety within him? He resisted the urge to delve into thoughts and continued through the human made tunnels. The shadows loomed upon him. Walking along the old cracked door, entering the room, he felt Subor's gaze fall upon him.

"These human caves really work wonders don't they?" Subor was in his normal good mood.

"You say that every time someone walks along this flat tree thing on the floor."

"Hey, don't yeh go dissin' human stuff, they were smart they were. Any way, it's called a door"

Gulping down a clump of saliva Azur cut in "That doesn't matter right now" he didn't want to get to the point too suddenly.

"And why's that?" Subor's tone was serious, no escaping it now.

"Um, please keep in mind that their decision isn't final, but, um, Lyracus got quite mad when he heard that you wanted to retire" Azur begged for an understanding response. Unexpectedly Subor's face broke into a huge smile and he burst out in laughter. what was he going on about?

"Ha ha, yeh think he would seriously refuse meh resignation? i'm not even sure if an alpha is aloud to do that! My own brother, stop meh from gettin' some peace and quiet?"

Feeling utterly stupid for getting so worried Azur stuck his tail between his legs "yah, true". 

Subor heaved himself onto his slightly stubby legs and shook of the dirt he had accumulated. Subor and Azur walked out of the room together, dirt flying in all directions. They stopped at the front door.

A halfhearted smile creeped onto Subor's face"Lutani will be wantin' yeh, don' take to long"

"I'll be here soon enough!" For the first time today he felt huge joy within him. He would be seeing Lutani, daughter to Arzelius and good friend to Azur. Lutani was part of a different pack by choice, but these days most gray wolf packs were considered to be part of 'the gray wolf army'. Snow began falling, the dense smell of fresh greenery died away and all that could be smelled was the cold. Azur couldn't wait, he pelted across the empty opening of the forest, jumped over the trickle of river, past the strange pile of rocks and into the forest opposite to were his pack resided. Lutani's pack wasn't fond of him continuously coming over here, last time they told him to turn around, lucky Lutani was passing by that time.

Were was she? Two wolves stood guard at the entrance of towering gates. They both wore battle armor and ungrateful looks. Under the armor were coats of light brown and white fur. Both of them were ready to fight at any given moment. Azur proceeded with caution.