Beginning Of the End

[Kaziph]

The forest was drier than he could ever remember it being before. Years had passed, and never before the earth felt so… so… lifeless. It was unnerving. The wolf crept through the undergrowth, the sounds of his passing crunching and crumbling in his wake. No doubt anything within a mile could hear him. The woodland creatures were quiet, though, eerily so. The birds remained in their roosts, keeping their own regard with beady eyes peering down upon the brown and gray creature disturbing them. They felt the strangeness, too, and didn't like it.

Carrick leapt over a stream bed, remembering seasons before when he and Larka had hunted in that very region. He shook his head, shooing away the memories. Not now; he had to… what? He couldn't half remember. The large wolf snorted, releasing a stream of frosty breath into the autumn air. How many wolves were in the Ravilin now? How many of Larka's last litter had survived? Atka's cubs. His dark brown eyes narrowed. But Atka was a good leader, wasn't he? Carrick didn't know. He was ashamed that he didn't know.

He traced old pathways southward, nosing the ground with vague hopes of finding traces of the others. He hadn't seen anyone in so long. The pack nature of the brute had come gnawing at him, tearing him to pieces mentally. In his meandering, however, he didn't notice that wind had shifted, blowing his scent back to north. He also didn't see the storm clouds gathering over the distant mountains to the northwest… storm clouds that, given time, would alter the face of the island. Lightening forked, but Carrick obliviously padded further along, eyes straining for the familiar sight of his clan mates.

[Tay]

The pale femme was perhaps the first to scent the old wolf. Her ears perked and she opened her sleepy golden eyes. Zena was growing older, but still she often felt like a pup. Her arctic blood filled her winter coat in thicker and she lay for a moment, scenting the air to be sure. When she was, she rose, yawning. She was still hesitant, no matter how sure she was of the scent. She was worried she would have him confused with Sarvarni again, but, she knew the younger male's scent far better now.

She shook her coat, sending a puff of dust from her nap into the air. She scented again and dashed forward, her body waking easily as she ran. Her muscled stretched and roared to life, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She rounded trees and leapt roots as if it were nothing. She heard the distant rumble of a storm and her ears flicked back. She emerged around the trunk of a large oak and stared at Carrick's old tired form. Carrick! Old friend! It really is you! She cried, grinning and dashing closer.

[Kaziph]

The old wolf paused when the sound of an avalanche reached his aging ears. He looked fearfully around at first, but a moment later a pale cream-colored wolf leapt from around the edge of an ancient oak and called his name. For a moment longer he looked confused, but then a light sparked on deep inside his chocolate hued eyes and a smile appeared on his muzzle. "Zena," he rumbled, voice gravelly. "Is it really you?" Or was it another dream?

The she-wolf dashed closer to him, and the old brute wagged his tail so hard his hindquarters moved with the motion. Her scent enveloped him, and Carrick whimpered with pleasure. "It is, isn't it?" he cried happily, and he thrust his muzzle into the fur around her neck like only a day had passed since they had last seen one another. "How are you? How is the pack?" he asked, his voice still excited. And where is the pack? he wondered, but he decided to leave that question for later. Right now, Zena's presence was all he cared about.

[Tay]

A careful smile had covered her maw when the old wolf hadn't recognized her. Now though the life she was so used to sparkled in his eyes and his banner sliced through the air. Oh, Carrcik! She yipped, snuggling into his thick mane. She beamed at him, pulling back to smile at the old wolf.

His words made her smile fade slightly. We are here and there sometimes. Sometimes it seems that the forest just swallows us whole. She glanced at the whispering trees. She turned back to him again, her pale white tail whipping through the air slower now. We have kept ourselves...more or less well. Larka and I went looking for you some time ago. Rather, Larka did and I did and we found each other on the way. Where have you been? How have you been? We've all missed you so much! I've missed you so terribly, Carrick. I worried about you, the old rock that you are. She grinned a little, tail still wagging.

[Kaziph]

Her words washed over him like rain to the too-dry earth. The sounds bounced off his eardrums, creating a cacophony of noise. The large wolf shook his head, smiling and grimacing at once, and nudged the she-wolf when she nuzzled him. My goodness, your words are like sweet honey, dear Zena. I have have not heard the language of our kind in so very long. Only the whispering of the woods and the quieter languages of the beasts have blessed these old ears of mine lately. He smiled, his voice was still rough with misuse.

He listened as she told him of her and Larka searching for him. Part of him wished to be sad about them both having missed him, but another part told him to be happy that they'd searched at all. Easily Larka could have retired with her new mate and forgotten him with the seasons. Zena's expression of kindness toward him touched his old heart, and the brute sighed softly. At least he would not be forgotten.

I have missed you too, Zena my friend. Come now, lead on. I would like to see the rest of the clan before… he paused, confused and saddened at once, and didn't continue. The sounds of thunder off in the distance had begun to roar, but Carrick was yet oblivious of the danger that loomed on the horizon.

[Amanda]

Larka had been aimless, restless, for reasons unknown to her. Uneasy feelings ruffled her hackles, sent shivers up her spine, and kept her sense tingling. It was in this heightened awareness of...something...that Larka caught his scent upon the breeze.

How long had it been?

Rousing herself from the earth she shook her silvery white pelt free of debris, it still shone brilliant white against the snow as she made her way towards his scent. Gaining ground in the effortless lope of the wolf, she noted zena's scent, and smiled. slowing her pace to give them more time alone, she eventually came upon their location.

Her bright golden orbs pierced them both, in particular studying the old brute who had so much history entangled around her. her posture was easy, relaxed, carefully neutral despite the maelstrom of emotions whirling behind her bright golden pools. Her voice was soft and silky, yet powerful.

Carrick. At last, you are here.

she knew not what else to say, for there was so much to say that it rendered her silent. What would become of them now?

What was brewing upon the island?

[Kaziph]

Her scent wreathed around him, sending tendrils of memory through his mind that he couldn't have forced away if he had wanted to try. He saw her in his mind's eye, a brilliant shining source of light, and when he closed his orbs the image was burned into his mind. A voice touched his ears, and they flickered. It wasn't his dearest friend Zena's.

When his orbs slanted open, peering between gray eye-lids, he saw her for the first time in seasons. She was still the same, and a smile touched the old wolf's lips. Larka, at last, you're here. Humor danced in his dark brown pools. Whatever took you so long? his voice was wistful, curious, and touched with a tinge of forgetfulness that had seemed to come over him in the past few months.