Jewels Elements

The Goose

Chapter One: The Goose

JewelFeather stepped out of her den, the light gray fur on her back standing on ends from the cold, -but not so windy- air. Snow coated the ground at least two feet high. Her paws would sink down a bit as she'd walk. She looked up at the pinkish sky. Low almost lavender clouds with a golden lining sat on the horizon, hiding the rising sun. It was quiet. maybe an occasional flock of geese would fly overhead, letting out high pitched honks as they'd let each other know where they were flying in the formation. It was a beautiful day, but little did Jewel know, this would be one of the biggest days of her life.

After a few moments of getting used to the colder temperature, her fur smoothed out again as she continued her trek down to the river. She was thirsty, and what most of the pack would do in the morning was to run down to the river to get a drink. Not willing to get trampled by the much larger wolves, since she was indeed still a juvenile, she'd slip out from the dog-piles of sleeping wolves to get dibs on the first drink in the morning. This was highly frowned upon by the code of the Fire Pack. Whether it be water, food, shelter, or available females, the Alpha always gets first pick.

When she reached the riverside, only a thin layer of ice had collected on the edges. She batted at it with her paw until there was enough space for her to lap her tongue into, and so she drank, her icy blue eyes staring back at her, warped and rippled from the flowing water.

The Alpha had never appreciated Jewel. They were technically siblings. The last Alpha, EmberTongue, was a kind Alpha who wouldn't always push past other packmates to get to where he got first dibs. He'd welcome others who were less fortunate to drink or eat first. The only thing he wasn't so hasty about were females during mating season. EmberTongue had had many sons and daughters, but ForestFlame was his firstborn son, his heir to the throne. He cared about all of his pups, but he spent the most time with his son. Teaching him right from wrong. Now, Jewel doesn't remember all of this, for when she first showed up she was likely a few days old. Her eyes were shut and her ears folded. She must have been no bigger than a young badger. Jewel didn't know why, but after she had arrived, nestled on a bundle of leaves at the dens entrance, EmberTongue cared for her like a daughter, instead of handing her off to a surrogate mother to take her in. Jewel and ForestFlame were treated equally, both were taught by EmberTongue separately, since ForestFlame was around four moons older than Jewel. But while the Alpha was busy, he'd leave Jewel with a healer wolf named WillowPaw.

WillowPaw was old, much too old to be a mother, but she knew the plants like the back of her paw and knew just the right cure for any sort of ailment. So instead of giving the infant pup milk, there were flowers that contained just as much nutrition as milk did. Because of this special property, these flowers were called OakBarks' Serum. OakBark was a fabled Alpha of the Flora Pack, more knowledgeable than all of the past healers combined. She had joined the earth many seasons ago, but she was most known for this flower. Ripe ones were quite large, with violet petals on the outside, a large greenish-yellow and bulbous center, which contained the milky nectar that OakBark had used to heal all abandoned and starving pups before she had passed. But this is what Jewel was fed as a young pup until she was able to eat scraps with the other pups.

WillowPaw had constantly had the infant Jewel by her side, wrapped in a bundle of taught leaves like how an opossum carried their young. Perhaps EmberTongue left her with WillowPaw because of how overwhelmingly protective and kind she was. Most other female wolves were a bit careless with raising their young. Only being careful when need be. But this carelessness usually resulted in wolves maturing at a much younger age. Different milestones would be reached based upon what size of prey they can hunt. The youngest pups are encouraged to hunt insects, then small rodents, then rabbits, raccons, young juvenile deer, adult does, bucks, and the list continues. The most skilled of wolves can hunt down a healthy buck elk alone and without assistance. Jewel was currently at the Raccoon stage in her learning.