The Darkness Within

02 - Hunting and Wolves

The storm lasted three days. By the time it was over and safe to exit the dark cave, she was running out of firewood. She had a couple more days of meat left, her berries and nuts now gone, but with feeding her and the little pup the meat went faster.

The pup, however, had thankfully gained back some healthy weight and as long as she was getting better Ciara didn't mind sharing her kill. The pup had grown too. Not that much but still a noticeable amount when they curled up at night to sleep. Soon, she thought, the pup would no longer fit inside the warm bedroll. But she supposed its fur had been getting healthier and thicker and it would not likely require the aid of her bedroll and body heat to keep warm. It was a wolf after all.

As she packed up so she could exit the cave and hopefully hunt down more food, the pup sat on its haunches and watched her goings-on. Its eyes were unnervingly perceptive and almost shone with higher intelligence than that of a wolf. Almost.

When she was done, she picked up the pup, satisfied at its healthy amount of weight in her arms. It had gotten more used to her holding it and therefore did not put up as much of a fuss as she carried it to the entrance of the cave. Ciara had to dig away some of the snow that had built up at the entrance. Once done, sunlight shone through the hole to the outside world, all the brighter because of the white snow that covered everything now.

She had to crouch to exit the cave just like she did when she entered three days past, but stood up after exiting. She loved the snow and took a quiet moment to examine its beauty. Her feet sunk into its depths but her feet remained warm under the fur covering them. The wind shifted, caressing her face gently as if it had moved just to welcome her. She ignored the impossibility of it and inhaled the crisp scent of true winter and the hardy pine and fir trees. It was her favorite smell. Seemingly a lifetime ago, a friend of hers had told her she smelled like winter and mountain trees. She didn't know if that was true, but she loved the smell anyway.

After enjoying the view, still holding the pup in her warm fur-covered arms, she scanned the forest. She didn't know where in the world she was now. Any tracks she had made on the way here were inevitably swept away and covered by the deep snow. She began walking into the forest. It didn't matter where she was, she would find somewhere familiar eventually and there was the more pressing matter of her dwindling food supplies.

As she walked she searched for any trails. She didn't particularly care what game she found, she just needed to find something soon. It might very well take her the two days her food supplies would last to find more prey, so starting now was in her best interest. The pup's too.

She heard the near-silent but rapid crunching of snow approaching and crouched down in preparation. Gently, she set the sleeping pup down onto the snow and it gratefully remained asleep. She pulled her bow from over her shoulder and quickly knocked an arrow as she pressed her back against the tree, hiding herself from the approaching animals. She could tell it was several based on the numerous sets of four-legged footsteps.

Honestly, it sounded the most like wolves. Deer and other similar animals had hooves and therefore sounded differently and from her own experience, she could tell the difference. Mountain lions traveled alone, and it was too loud, too big, and too many animals to be smaller creatures. Her suspicions were confirmed a few seconds later when five wolves could be seen through the trees.

They were the typical variations of a grey wolf's coat, the only difference was their enormous size. Easily the biggest wolves she had ever seen at almost one and half times as big as normal wolves. They didn't notice her as they ran by and she quickly put her bow and arrow away. She scooped her wolf pup up quickly, making it release a small puppy yawn before she took off after the wolves. She ran to where they had cut through the snow a few trees away before running in their tracks. It was quicker this way and would help to conceal her scent a bit by mixing it with the other wolves's.