Artwork illustration by Shadow-Okami to go alongside chapter's one and two~ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11433336/

Chapter One

Upon a hillside lived four wolf packs. Rivals against each other for as long as anyone could remember. Each despising the other packs, like an unspoken ancient ruling. This went on for many years and through many generations.
That was until one spring evening. As dusk fell, four female wolves, one from each pack, went into labour. Each of their labours lasted around six to eight hours and by sunrise the next morning, all mothers and pups were curled up together. All four mothers had exactly five pups each.
Now I know what you're thinking, coincidence, right? Perhaps it may have been. Perhaps it was a coincidence that one pup from each pack wondered off at the same time on the same day, a coincidence that even though none of them had ever been outside the realms of their pack's territory, somehow all ended up in a secret forest-like place. If you believe that these four six-month old pups met by coincidences alone, then so be it. But those string of events is what makes this tale that little more interesting. But more about that later.

So those four packs and pups, let's tell you a little more about them, shall we?
The Fend's
The Fend pack were known for their violent and rough nature. Blood was often shed amongst themselves in play fights and minor squabbles. Each had been brought up and taught that fighting your way out of things was the way everything worked and anyone who didn't was considered a weakling in their eyes. The boys were tough, but the girls were just as rough.
Jex Fend, one of the newer pups to the pack didn't quite fit in with the stereotypical views his family portrayed. He was more flamboyant than the rest and everyone could tell he was different from the moment he could walk. Some of his older siblings tried to teach him their rougher ways, but all who tried, failed. He slowly got shunned and slightly rejected from from his pack, although they weren't to abandon him, that's just common wolf knowledge. News quickly spread about this little femboy and he was the talk of the pack for many months. He loved watching the clouds float on by or generally more relaxed and feminine things, rather than fighting or rough and tumble games which his peers would play. This caused conflict and being known for their aggressive nature, the other pups knew of only one way to resolve it.. so Jex would go back to the caves most nights covered in cuts, bruises and scars. His parents just told him to “man up” and “stop acting like a woose and do your pack proud!”. Over the first few months of his life, he learnt to hate the markings on him that made him belong to the pack, just as much as the pack hated him.
The Amora's
Flirtatious little ones, tricking others with lusty charm is a key part in this packs functions. They sweet-talk their way out of mischief. They devote a lot of their time to their looks and appearance as well as that perfect smile to win over whoever they desire.
Casper Amora was a young pup amongst the newest litter born, a bit too naive for his own good, his older brothers and sisters used that against him and he was usually left doing their chores and dirty work.
The Diamond's
Their clever and smart instincts make this pack so unique. They're always the brains behind any plan and all love inventing new ways, ideas or plans for things.
Shadi Diamond was one of the new pups to the pack. Though his gender wasn't totally clear for those around him, he had a gender-neutral voice and personality. Many always asked him if he was happy being a boy and he'd always say it was great and wouldn't want it any other way, so once learning to just take that for him being him, the others got over it and on with their lives. He kept himself to himself, always that little bit more quieter than the rest of the pups.
The Verecund's
A nature-loving, kind and caring pack who look out for one another. They're quite bubbly and energetic as a whole and honour things such as youth, spirituality and acts of kindness.
Myristicae Verecund was a quiet, shy and timid little pup from the latest litter. Because her name was a mouthful and a half to say, it was often shortened to Myrist. She obeyed what her parents and elders said and barely ever went out of line and when she did do wrong, it was only ever by mistake.

So these four innocent pups, just exploring the world around them, but they happen to find each other.
All wandered off from their territory's realms and all ended up in a secret forest den. They see each other and are thrilled to meet other pups the same age as them, even if a few of them were hesitant. But they laugh, they play, they have fun. They saw nothing wrong with their behaviour, why would they? No one was getting hurt and everyone was looking out for one another. That was until they stumbled out of the forest and back out to the hillside and their parents came running over to them, all shouting and crying, hugging and squeezing. Of course with all the mixed emotions around, it confused and scared the little pups who promptly burst out crying. If it wasn't obvious enough that they shouldn't have been playing together with the mothers trying to comfort them and the fathers yelling at one another, once back in their own territory they were each sat down by their fathers and sternly told never to play with any wolf from another pack. Ever. Those of them who dared to ask questions were ignored, just told to go and play with their “own kind”. The four pups, confused and scared, did as they were told. But never forgot of what happened or who they met.










Chapter Two

A year went by, each pup living their life in their packs. By now they were about one and a half wolf years old.
Whilst Shadi was in the middle of building a little wooden toy of sorts, his mother sent him to fetch some water by the nearby stream, just outside the territory. She told him he was old enough now to have some responsibilities and this wasn't really a hard job. Shadi just nodded, took the bucket in his mouth and started wandering off to where his mother had roughly said the stream was.
Jex was annoying and embarrassing his father at the weekly “Manly Meet”, all the fathers had decided to bring along their sons for this week. But Jex being Jex, he was dancing on his own in the corner and trying to make pony-tails out of the other boys fur. His father, frustrated and annoyed sent him home. A glum and sorrow-filled Jex slowly trudged home, kicking up the dirt as he went. Murmuring discouraging words to himself, he was too distracted and nearly stepped on a beautiful butterfly. He luckily saw it before he stepped on it and it started to flutter away. Beginning to follow it, he looked around quickly to make sure no one was about the thump him one and smiled as no wolves were in sight. He daintily tiptoed along behind the beautiful little creature as not to disturb it.
One of Casper's older sister told him to go and fetch some fire wood as their father had proposed it. His older siblings always made up lies to get him out of the way and being a little too naïve for his own good, he always believed them. This time being no exception, he promptly started a trek to find some wood. But after a little while of searching, it was turning out to be a harder search than he originally thought as it'd been raining the night before, making all the nearby wood all wet and soggy, therefore no use for fire wood. He remembered the voice of his sister saying to “not come back until you've found some”. He sighed quietly and carried on his search.
Myrist and a few of her older sisters were out walking around the outskirts of their territory, taking in the beauty of nature. Seeing a curious imprint in a tree bark, a circle with lines and dashes through it, she went over to investigate. But being so quiet and shy, Myrist couldn't tell her sisters where she was going and just slowly slipped away from them. As she reached the tree with the strange bark marking, she noticed another one behind it and another behind that and another behind that! Going deeper into the forest, she was getting a little more scared and nervous at every tree she passed.

Myrist suddenly heard a noise, as if someone had stepped on a twig. Her breathing got faster and heavier, her heart started pounding. She backed up, but a tree blocked her path. A shadowed figure started emerging from the depths of the forest. Her eyes widened, then she clamped them shut. Her lips were trembling, the fur on the back of her neck was standing on end as a rustling sound was getting louder and louder, coming closer and closer. The noise stopped. She held her breath. Eyes still closed.
“Are you alright?” asked a kind, male voice.
She opened one eye slightly and saw a wolf standing there, looking inquisitive. She thought to herself, 'he looks familiar.. but he doesn't look like he's from my pack? He mustn't be much older than me either..'. As she slowly opened both eyes with her heart and breathing going back into a normal pattern, he asked again,
“Are you okay?”
She nodded quickly and edged over a bit, as to not be clinging to the tree behind her. She caught a glimpse of the mark on his hip. It was different to hers and she looked at it, a little confused. The boy wolf followed her eyes and saw what she was looking at, then looked over at her hip.
“So, you're not an Amora pack member then?” he asked, looking back at her face.
She looked over to his face and blushed a little, letting her hair fall over her eyes slightly as she shook her head.
“What pack are you from then, miss?” he said, curiously.
“Ver-Verecund” she replied, shyly.
“VerVerecund? Never heard of that pack before.”
She giggled a little then said, “Not VerVerecund, just Verecund.”
“Ohhh, I see!” He started, “you look really familiar by the way..”
“That's what I thought about you,” she said, still fairly quiet.
They looked at each other for a minute, trying to recall where they'd seen each other before.
“Nevermind, fancy going for a little walk?” he asked, “oh and I'm Casper by the way.”
She nodded and replied “yeah, sure. I'm Myristicae but everyone calls me Myrist.”
“Myrist? That's a very pretty name you know” Casper said, staying true to his packs flirtatious ways.
She blushed again and let out a little “thanks” before they started walking deeper into the forest together.

A little while away, Jex was still following the beautiful butterfly when he accidentally bumped into someone. He saw a bucket roll off and began apologising immediately,
“Crud, I'm so sorry! Let me fetch that for you!” He bounded over towards the wooden bucket and rolled it back to it's owner with his paws.
“It's fine,” said the other wolf, “I've been looking for a stream for ages and that bucket's really doing my jaw in.” He said, moving his jaw about.
“Oh right, sorry, I don't know where a stream is.” Jex said, looking around him, “coming to think about it, I don't really know when I am.”
Looking around, the other wolf said, “neither do I..”
Both stared at each other blankly until Jex suggested, “how about we carry on walking together? Because if it gets dark, it's better to be with someone than alone in the scary forest.”
The other wolf looked at him, smiled and nodded, “sounds good.”
“Great!” He said, excitedly and started walking. “What's your name? I'm Jex.”
“Shadi, from the Diamond pack. What pack are you from? I don't recognise your mark.”
“Uhh.. the Fend pack..” Jex said, hesitantly, “but don't worry, I'm not like all the others in my pack.” “I think I've heard my parents mention the Fend's before, quite a brutal pack, they said.”
“Like I said, I'm not like them. I was following a butterfly before I bumped into you!” Jex said, trying to make Shadi believe him.
“It's fine, I believe you.” Shadi said, smiling.
Still full of energy, Jex carried on kicking the bucket along, giving Shadi's jaw a much needed rest.

After a while of walking, Shadi and Jex came to a stream.
“Well, we found a stream!” Jex said, looking over at Shadi.
He nodded and replied, “I didn't realise it was so big, it's more like a river than a stream!”
Jex chuckled. He bent down and put his paw in the stream. “Brr, whatever this streamy-river is, it's so cold!” He said, a shiver running down his spine and through his tail.
Jex backed up and wiped his wet paw on the grass. As he looked up, a couple of other wolves came out of the forest on the other side of the large stream.
“Hey look,” Jex said pointing over to them, “more wolves!”
Shadi looked up and saw the two wolves approaching the edge of the stream.
“That's it!” He shouted, “I remember now!”
Jex and the other two wolves from across the stream all looked over at Shadi.
“If my memory is correct, us four wolves met a long time ago in a secret forest somewhere around here” Shadi explained.
The other two wolves on the other side of the stream could barely hear him, but caught the gist of what he was saying. As Shadi went on and explained more about that day, their own memories started coming back and a few minutes later, they all remembered the day all of them had been told to forget.
“You two should get over here.” Shadi yelled over to the other two standing on the other side of the stream.
“Yeah, but how?” Asked Casper.
“Just swim over, it's not that harsh at the moment.” Shadi said
Casper nodded and asked Myrist to go first, “ladies first” he said.
Myrist was hesitant and looked over at Casper, wanting him to go first and check that it was okay. Getting the hint, Casper said, “I'll go over first, then you follow when I say, okay?”
Myrist nodded and Casper jumped into the water, “see it's not that hard!” he said, swimming with ease. Once he reached the other side, he got out and shook his fur dry, much to the dismay of Jex and Shadi who got covered it little drops of water.
“Your turn, Myrist!” Casper shouted over to the other side of the stream. He turned back and looked at the other two, “oh yeah, I'm Casper and that's Myrist. I don't remember exchanging names with you guys.”
“I'm Jex and this is Shadi,” Jex said.
“Nice to meet you guys.. again.” Casper said.
“You too.” replied Jex.
“Likewise.” Said Shadi.
Turning back towards Myrist, Casper called over, “c'mon! You can do it!”
Myrist stepped to the streams edge and put a paw into the water. She shivered and looked up at Casper.
“I know it's cold,” he said, “but how are you going to get over here otherwise?”
Myrist looked around and sighed through disappointment. She stepped into the water a little, then a little more, edging in slowly. A rock underneath her slipped out of place from taking her weight and she slid into the water.
“Are you alright?!” Casper yelled out.
Myrist gasped and replied a murmured, “yup.” She started swimming along and was nearly over to the otherside. But just before she was about to haul herself up, a branch under the water knocked her back legs. She started being dragged away with the increasingly stronger current. She tried fighting it and swimming against it, but it was no use. Her back ankle was probably sprained and she could barely move it, let alone try and swim against the strong current.
“NO!” yelled Jex and Casper, staring in horror as Myrist tried to stay afloat.
“Try and grab on to something!” Shouted Shadi, desperately trying to think of a plan.
Despite her flailing attempts, it was no use, the current was too strong and her paws were too wet to hold on to anything. Shadi looked around, looking for something rope-like to throw at her.
“There!” He said, pointing up at a vine hanging from a tree down the bank a little.
Jex looked up and said “I'm on it!” He ran up and jumped from branch to branch until he reached the vine. Grabbing it, he slid down and chucked it to Myrist, just before she sunk below the water. But she wasn't out of danger yet, Jex wasn't strong enough to pull her out and Myrist's wet paws weren't gripping too well to the slippery vine.
“Give it here!” Casper shouted, running to Jex. Jex gave it to Casper and he pulled the vine as much as he could.
“Just a little more!” Said Jex, encouragingly.
One last pull and Casper dragged Myrist, coughing and spluttering on to the streams edge.
“Quick, pull her out!” Casper said, as they pulled her out and underneath a tree. Coughing up water and gasping for breath, she managed to whisper,
“My leg..”
Shadi took a look at her back legs as the other two tried comforting her and patting her wet, matted fur down. After some careful prods and pokes, Shadi said there was no bad damage and it was just bruised. Jex sighed in relief.
Myrist's breathing started to go back to normal once again. Casper said jokily,
“You really had us going for a minute there!”
Myrist smiled and let out a breathy laugh.

After a while of collecting leaves, wood and water, Shadi looked up at the sky.
“It's getting dark, we need to start trying to head back to our packs.” he said, looking back at the others. “Can you walk Myrist?” he asked.
Myrist tried to stand up, but fell back in pain and shook her head.
A large owl swooped down over the wolves heads. Jex screamed, Casper yelled and they all ran to Myrist under the tree and huddled up together.
“This is going to be a looong night.” Shadi said, shaking.

TBC..


Story, characters and ideas ©  fumafurafume
Artwork ©  Shadow-Okami