Running With Wolves

Four - Invasion

      Star shivered in the morning air. She lay in the lee of a large rock in the camp. The weather over the past few sun cycles had gotten worse. The cold wind felt near the night of Alpha Fox's death had brought storms and snow soon after and the Grassland Pack found themselves wading through deep snowdrifts as they sought prey. There wasn't anything to find, unfortunately, and all the wolves felt a gnawing hunger. Alpha Wind still hadn't chosen a new mate and the pack waited desperately, though none showed it. Star herself was dreading the day, fearing he would choose her. She wasn't mother material.

     The wind howled again. It had been snowing all morning, white powder piling up in huge mounds. The grassland looked more like a tundra in the faint light. Star was up early because she was supposed to be on the dawn patrol with Fearless Bison. Those trips were made only once every few sun cycles, as their territory was too large even with the encroaching Nofurs to be traversed every day.

     The beta hadn't woken up yet. Star shivered once more, fur and ears flattening against the frigid air. She wanted to bark to get some wolf's attention, to just get the trip on with. Star knew moving would keep her warmer than running.

     At last, as if summoned by Star Wolf himself, Fearless Bison dropped down into the clearing. The yellow eyes of the beige and brown wolf scanned the snowy scene. "Star, to me." Star obediently stood up and shook out her light coat. No wonder Fearless Bison had to command her, she could barely make out her own paws in the white haze.

     Only once she moved did the beta find her. She nodded to the forest exit and Star followed, leaping to clear the fluffy drifts. The two wolves made slow headway through the passage, snow slowing them down, but once they were clear of the camp and in the forest the travelling became easier. They were able to lope along a well-trodden path. It took them past the pond, around the owl tree, and across a small clearing.

     Star lifted her nose hopefully, wishing to catch a whiff of deer, or rabbit, or squirrel, or something other than mulch and wet bark. But there was nothing, everything just the typical forest musk.

     Fearless Bison trudged on. They now were passing under a thickly covered section of the forest where elm, beech, and sycamore branches wove thickly together. Here, less snow fell and the pair were able to run. Both she-wolves checked the air for scents, less of prey and more of other carnivores. Star remembered hearing stories of a bear in the deep forest, and how a cougar had once stolen a wolf pup. But those were in the olden days, when prey was plentiful. Now, scarcely a mouse was spotted.

     Fearless Bison growled as she pressed through a briar thicket. Star dragged herself after her. The she-wolves were very large, and their ice-moon thick fur caught on the trailing thorns. The branches snagged Star's muzzle, scratching near her eyes. She squinted, snarling and snapping at the wood.

     "Isn't there a less painful way through?" she asked. Fearless Bison huffed in response.

     "If we took the long way around, we'd have to cross outside the territory." She growled. Fearless Bison crawled over a fallen oak, dragging herself across the icy trunk. The wind howled above their heads, rattling the branches of the ancient trees. She took a long while and Star shifted her weight impatiently. When no sound came from the other side, she leaped across the oak, landing clumsily on the top. Star yelped as she lost her pawhold and fell, colliding with the beta below. Both wolves rolled, momentum throwing them down a small gully. Star was the first to land in the stream. She sneezed and stood up quickly, shaking out her wet fur. Fearless arrived not long after. The she-wolf shook from the shock and cold.

     "Star!" she barked angrily. Fearless Bison shoved her snout into Star's face, snarling in the back of her throat. She tilted her ears forward and bared her teeth. Star whined and lowered her head, immediately ducking down as Fearless Bison snarled louder. She rolled over and exposed her stomach, hoping her submissive display would be what the higher-ranking she-wolf was looking for. Fearless Bison let out a satisfied grunt and turned away. "You need to act more carefully, or your impulsiveness might cost you one day." Star nodded sheepishly. The soaking had been enough.

     Fearless Bison trotted alongside the water. Star followed and eventually, as the sky grew brighter and the snow fell lighter, they reached the edge of the territory.

     Star looked out at the trees. They had climbed up the steep slope at one point and now stood near a tree stump. Star could scent the others in her pack. Every dawn patrol took at least a day to circle the whole territory. The pair of assigned wolves would travel beside the scent marks and renew them where they were weak. Fearless Bison crouched down just now and left her mark at the roots of an old beech tree. They continued, moving along the border at a northwesterly direction.

     Just as the snow stopped falling, Fearless Bison and Star stood on a ridge overlooking the edge of the forest. The ground fell away underpaw, stretching for a deer-length. It met with a bed of stones and a narrow stretch of the Great River. Fearless Bison jumped down, landing on the icy ground below. She nearly slipped, but her sharp claws helped her keep her balance. Star waited until her brown back was out of the way, then she joined her beta as well.

     "Let's cross here, it's shallowest." Fearless Bison, true to her name, jumped into the cold water. Star was more hesitant, remembering her dip in the forest stream. She looked at Fearless Bison. She was across the river and waiting impatiently on the other side. Star whined before she leaped. Her powerful jump took her halfway across the four deer-length river. The freezing water closed on her flanks and Star yelped from the shock. Her claws scrabbled at the algae-covered pebbles beneath her. She couldn't find any purchase, the current pulling her swiftly along to the right. Fearless Bison sprang forward and grabbed her scruff. With the help of the beige she-wolf, Star was able to climb onto the bank.

     "Th-thanks, F-F-F-Fearless." The beta smiled slightly. Then he pushed Star with her head to the shelter of a large rock. Star gratefully lay down, and both wolves rested for a short while. Star licked her fur to help dry it in no time it dried out enough for the pair to continue the patrol.

     The two she-wolves made good headway the rest of the day. By noon, they had run half the grassland stretch of the territory. The barren, white terrain stretched out before them. Star panted happily as she loped after Fearless Bison. The beige she-wolf led the run, dashing quickly across the territory. The she-wolves were closing in on the last league when Star scented them.

     Nofurs.

     "Wait!"

     Fearless Bison abruptly slammed her paws down. She caused a spray of fluffy snow to fly in the air as she stopped her pace. "What is it, Star?" She asked impatiently. Then her eyes widened. "Do you smell the Nofurs?"

     Star nodded gravely. "Should we check it out?" Fearless Bison twitched her ear in indecision, then walked forward. Star followed cautiously. The wind blew the strange smells and sounds to them, urging them onward. They crossed the border. Fearless Bison now slowed the pace as the wolves of the Grassland Pack had never needed to leave their territory. Star followed Fearless Bison through a path between two low hills. The odd smell was growing stronger, as was the rumbling sound. Star smelled Nofurs and a new, unnatural scent as well. A mixture of smoke and death. It choked her throat as she breathed it in. When Fearless Bison and Star crested a small hill, they gasped.

     The land before them had been cut away. Red clay-dirt was churned into mud with the snow. Hulking yellow beasts crouched in the camp, and several Nofurs ran between them. They barked in their strange language, calling commands about whatever they were doing. Star whined as she saw one of the yellow creatures rip the earth with its long claw. A growling roar filled the air.

     "What are they doing?" she whispered to the beta. Fearless Bison looked very fearful. They wateched as the Nofurs began pulling stripped tree logs in certain places.

     "I don't know... I just don't know..." the beta pressed her ears to her head. "We must turn back!" she growled to the hunter. Star nodded and followed the she-wolf. When they were well away, Fearless Bison looked over her shoulder. They stood on another hill but they could still see the the Nofurs as they built their strange nest. "We will finish the patrol," the beta decided, "and report our findings to Alpha Wind."

     Star swallowed her fear and looked in the direction of the camp. She just hoped her pack would be alright and that the Nofurs would find their building useless. The land here was unforgiving. Where would they find prey? There weren't enough deer for both packs. Star felt hope rise in her chest. The Nofurs would leave soon, she was sure of it.

     They had to, or else the Grassland Pack would be outcompeted.