Ice Pack is a pack of wolves who are accustomed to the cold. Their thick guard fur has grown into spikes from the snow, frost, and rain freezing on them and their claws grow curved and long so that it digs into the permafrost. They are especially harsh with the traditional wolf pack rules(no wolf except the alphas may mate, the strongest wolf of each gender are always alpha, any pup that isn't born from an alpha will be killed, etc.) because in their terrain, it's extremely difficult to live and they only accept the strongest. if you become an omega, you aren't even considered a member; you're treated like an invader and are chased off constantly.
They have two terrains in their territory-
The Permafrost
A flatland made of frozen solid soil and frost that's so packed under pressure and coldness that it'll brobabky never thaw. For anybody who isn't adapted to the land, the paw pads slip,sting, bleed and are torn apart when trying to run on it.
The Cloud Forest
A frozen jungle, with fog so thick and low it's difficult to see anything a couple feet from you. You have to solely rely on scent most of the time, and even then it's hard because the wetness dampens and washes away scents.
They have two terrains in their territory-
The Permafrost
A flatland made of frozen solid soil and frost that's so packed under pressure and coldness that it'll brobabky never thaw. For anybody who isn't adapted to the land, the paw pads slip,sting, bleed and are torn apart when trying to run on it.
The Cloud Forest
A frozen jungle, with fog so thick and low it's difficult to see anything a couple feet from you. You have to solely rely on scent most of the time, and even then it's hard because the wetness dampens and washes away scents.
Lira trotted along the river, and over the flat land, and scented two rain pack members before she saw them. Two blobs moved near the river, and Lira sprinted to see what they were doing.
ReplyDelete"This is our river! Give us our prey or Rain Pack will feel the claws of Melting Ice!"
The husky snorted.
"We're not Rain pack. They threw us out a long time ago. We caught these fish! They're ours!" The Ice alpha looked startled.
"Well well well, outcasts. Maybe you could be as some value to Ice, seeing as you caught that many fish in the sort of weather." The husky and her companion, a skinny white she wolf,exchanged a meaningful look
"They could help us get your pups back." The husky whispered, her eyes cutting away to Lira for the briefest moment. Lira snarled, "Shut up and listen! Our pack is still growing, and I offer you two a life within our pack. But don't expect to be welcomed by Torrik after what you did, omega. Once you leave an impression on him, it's never coming off." She made something like a half grin, half smirk.
The husky squared up to Lira and said boldly, "Don't tell us what to do. We could take you- there's two of us to one of you."
Lira stared at her cooly at said, "Look at you. Your pathetic. You two are skin and bones."
It was true, in fact, that Lira was bigger than both of them put together, and healthier.
The white she wolf shouldered the husky out of the way and said "Look, sorry about attacking Torrik," then took a breath and added, "But we'd be honored to have a place to stay."
Lira just smiled, amused at her apology. Torrik was one to hold grudges.
"Then follow me." She replied, and took off at a sprint.The husky and she wolf gathered their prey and followed. Lira smelt the blood seeping from their pads- they weren't accustomed to the terrain- as they ran, the land under their feet turned harder, colder, and flatter. The frost would sting and tear at the outcasts' pads until they bled. Lira slowed down and fell in step beside them.
"This is called permafrost. It's flatland that's frozen solid soil and frost that will never melt. You have to adapt to it so your paws won't bleed, and grow longer claws so they dig into the ground," She explained. "We also live in a cloud forest, which is a frozen forest, where a thick fog hangs low to the ground and you have to rely on scent to find your way around." She said as they entered a jungle like forest that grew thicker as they went on, as Lira described it. Eventually hostile faces of wolves appeared out of the fog.
Lira smelt Torrik to the left of the groupand knew he was watching them, hidden.
"This is our pack," Lira said. The husky suddenly said, "Where's Catori? Catori?!" But in the fog it was impossible to see a white coat.
Then a sharp yelp sounded, and a bloody body was thrown in front of them.
"Catori!" The husky cried.
"I'm okay Akia! Catori said. "It's just small scratches making a lot of blood.."
Torrik's half white half black face appeared out of the gloom, and his eyes gleamed.
"I presume you won't be eager to fight me again?" He asked. "Oh hey Lira! Did you catch some prey on your hunting trip, besides those two?" He asked in a friendly, goodnatured tone. "Akia, leave a good impression or you'll be next," she muttered, trying to be helpful. In a louder voice, she said,
"Actually, Tor, they're fishers. They are beneficial, and have value."
CATORI- Making sure no wolf could hear her, Catori lean in towards Akia
ReplyDelete"Im not staying long." Her voice was barely a whisper, no one heard it exept Akia. Akia shot her a questioning look, and Catori breathed
"ill tell you later." Catori let the wolves lead her out to the dens without any trouble, but her rage seethed hot and dangerous beneath her pelt, she felt a murderous sense of rage against Torrik, and Lira too, the were both fish-brained idiots that had coyote vomit for marrow.
When Ash saw the beautiful white she wolf, Catori, he knew he had to talk to her.
ReplyDeleteHe took the opportunity to lead her into their dens. Their dens were igloos, and the floor was coated with bear and moose hides.
As soon as the entered the igloo, he said in a whisper, "I'm so sorry about Torrik. We may not like him, but it's true what Lira said- he always gets revenge." Catori still had a guarded and pained look in her eyes, making Ash desperate for her trust.
"Those claws he cut you with a Ice claws- they're covered in frost so that the wound will burn badly. But I know a trick to numb it- wait, I'll be back."
While he left, Akia looked at Catori. "Can we trust him?"
Ash returned with a beautiful white flower.
"It's called a snow lily. The juice from it's stems numbs pain." He told them, while dripping the milky white juice onto one of Catori's cuts. They were small, like she had previously stated, but heat from the burn emanated from them.
CATORI- Catori winced as the healing juice spread across her wound, but a cool, blissful feeling followed. Sighing with relief, Catori looked at Ash
ReplyDelete"Thank you, it feels much better.". Ash nodded eagerly and went back to dripping the healing flower juice on her wounds. Catori glanced over at Akia, who wiggled her eyebrows at her and mouthed 'he likes you'. Catori laughed inwardly and made a 'pffft' sound. Ash was just being friendly, thats all.
AKIA's paws tingled with excitement.
ReplyDeleteShe didn't care that Catori didn't want to stay- Although with Ash around, she had a feeling that she would.
Akia wanted so badly to make ice pack her home. She catch all the fish in the river, she would run across permafrost till her pads were more blood than flesh, she would take on entire enemy packs, anything to hold a place here.
So she would be good natured. So she would behave herself. It wasn't too far from her personality to do so, but with the way Rain pack had treated her, she couldn't help but be a bit vicious.
"I'm going for a run." she muttered, and left the den.
ASH got excited when Catori thanked him, so he asked, "Can I do anything else for you guys?"
ReplyDeleteLIRA smiled when she felt a tongue lick her ear. "Hey Tor," She said.
Then she heard him growl, and he said, "Do you smell that?" She whipped around as she saw a dark shape appear out of the gloom, and recognized it as one of the wolves of blood pack.
"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked.
"My name's Shade, and I have a message from Blood Pack."
"Well?"
"Our pack is moving out of Wild Territory."
CATORI- Catori shook her head.
ReplyDelete"Thanks for asking though" She said as she watched Akia go. She seemed so happy here, like this was were she was meant to be, and Catori knew, that when she left Ice Pack, Akia would most likey want to stay here. The thought of leaving her best friend made her eyes water, but Rainpack was were she truly belonged.
She heard barks and growls coming from outside , so she pricked her ears to catch a few words
"Our Pack is moving out of Wild territory" Catori blinked. Out of wild territory? This was the only home any of them had ever known, and now one of the three pack was moving? Catori managed to catch a couple more snippets of conversation as she exchanged suprised glances with Ash. She could tell the the messenger was Bloodpack from the rough edge in his voice, but she did not recognize the exact wolf. But as Catori was trying to figure out who the Bloodpack wolf was, she heard a remark that made her heart stop
"Ice Pack will be moving as well."
LIRA shrugged and said, "We haven't lived here for long, so it wouldn't matter much if we moved again. Besides, spring is coming, melting our ice. We need to move to somewhere where it's still cold."
ReplyDelete"It's settled then," Shade said indifferently. "Now I just need to meet up with my partner so we can see if all three will be moving." Lira nodded. "When will we all leave?"
"I don't know, Red Fang just said that we'd have a couple days to be ready."
"Will all of us unite or travel seperately during the journey?" asked torrik.
"join-" shade tried to say, but ash cut in and asked, "Where are we going anyway?"
"I don't know all the answers!" Shade almost shouted, then repeated himself in a lower voice. "If you want answers, ask Red Fang, he should know," Shade said shortly, then disappeared in the fog.
Gwyn turned his black head and fixed his pale blue gaze on the Alphas.
ReplyDelete"What are they deciding?" Gwyn thought as he watched Lira and Torrik. The two Alphas were muttering to eachother, watching the wolf from one of their rival packs stride off into the fog.
"What's our next move?" Gwyn heard someone call out. "Yeah, what IS our next move?" another called.
Gwyn remained silent. He knew better than to ask such things. It was better to just sit back and follow the Alphas;they knew what they were doing.
"Or they are supposed to, at least." he thought.
CATORI- Pacing back and forth at the edge of the pack, Catoris brain reeled with all this news. She was miserable. Totally depressed. At an all time low. All she wanted was to be back in rainpack, enjoying the territory she loved best, and were she could at least be around the wolf she loved. Pawing angrily at the hard permafrost under her paws, cold, hard, unforgiving. She felt trapped withing the cold mists of Icpack territory, they seemed to cut her off from the wolves she loved; Her pups, Okami, Shiver, Blossom,... and Ice, and the wolf that she had fallen in love with and had never stopped loving;Black Shadow.
ReplyDeleteAkia skidded back into camp from her run, leaving a trail of blood on the white ice. The sight of blood caught Catori's attention, distracting her from whatever was on her mind.
ReplyDelete"What have you done to your paws!?" she exclaimed.
"I was toughening them!" Akia declared defensively, "On the ice!" Catori rolled her eyes.
Then, Lira called a meeting.
Torrik growled and said, "We're sending scouts ahead. Ash, Skanda, and Akia are going."
ReplyDeleteLira nodded, then gasped suddenly, crouching down.
"What's wrong?" Asked Torrik, clearly worried.
"My pups are coming," She whispered.
Torrik snarled, apparently at the other wolves. He couldn't see them, so he circled protectively around Lira, making sure no one got close.
She lied down and managed, "I know I should have found a den earlier-"
She growled as her pup came- she couldn't see it but she felt Torrik nudging it closer to her. She vaguely saw a black smudge that must have been her pup.
Gwyn's ears pricked up as he heard Torrik mention the puny omega.
ReplyDelete"why would they send that pathetic piece of scrap?" he wondered. Then he saw Lira crouch and heard a faint whisper. The next thing told him what was happening;Torrik started to circle around his mate, keeping anyone from coming near as Lira growled and a small scrap of black fur came into the world.
"she must be having her pups..." he thought rather stupidly.
Skanda's ears pricked up with hope as he heard Torrik mention his name. This could be his chance to prove himself and maybe even move himself up from the position of Omega to the position of Delta. At least then he wouldn't be treated as if he was carrying some kind of disease.
"please help me to not screw this up... PLEASE..." he silently prayed, willing for some ancestor of his pack to grant him his wish. Maybe he could even put some weight on his scrawny body along the way.
ASH wondered aloud, "How come your sending an omega?" he heard Torrik mutter something like, "Because we don't need them here."
ReplyDeleteLIRA let the pup suckle and licked its fur the wrong way to keep it warm in the chilly cloud forest. She put her muzzle right up to the pups body to inspect it clearly. It was black with white stripes, and had a crescent moon shape over one eye, and had dark green blue eyes.
"I'm naming her Khonsu, after the moon." Lira decided.
"Wait," Torrik said, feeling along her stomach,"There's one more."
CADENCE- Cadence shifted from paw to paw as she waited exitedly to get a chance to see the new pups. She heard Lira frunting in pain as they came into the world, but other wolves blocked her view.
ReplyDelete"I bet there sooo cute!" She mutted to the white shewolf next to her. The shewolf just grunted and looked away bitterly. Ignoring the wolfs unfriendlyness, Cadence blew a piec of fur out of her eyes and tryed to nudge her way forward in the crowd
Gwyn turned on Cadence, teeth bared.
ReplyDelete"watch it! That thing your standing on is my tail, you big oaf!" he snarled, glaring at her.
Gwyn pushed the strange she-wolf to the side and off of his tail.
"Watch where you put your paws next time." he muttered angrily, somewhat nicer than before. Standing near him, the white shewolf stood out clearly against the back-drop of Gwyn's black and frost-tinted pelt.
Cadence- Cadence giggled.
ReplyDelete"Oh sorry! I can be such an oaf sometimes!" She said, a smile forever on her mouth
"Your Gwyn right?" She asked looking at the big dark wolf. He nodded in response.
CATORI- Catori looked at the wierd pink and white she wolf. She rolled her eyes at how ridiculous she seemed
(sorry its so short, i gotta go somewhere
(kk)
ReplyDeleteLira snarled to vent the pain as another she wolf came. It was white with black stripes, and had the same turquoise eyes as it's sister. Lira looked up to Torrik.
"You name her."
He hesitated, then said,
"Her name is... Cotu." And stroked the pups head, before nudging her to Lira. Then he darted up and whipped around, giving a deadly low growl to something unseen in the mist. Three figures- two big and one smaller- started to appear.
"What do you want?!" He snarled as three Rain Pack wolves emerged. A dark brown one said,
"We're the scouts from Rain. We wanted to know if you're scouts were traveling with us."
Torrik inspected them through the fog, cocking his head.
"Go with them." He instructed Ice's scouts, before turning back to Lira and the newborn pups.
ASH trotted over to the Rain wolves curiously.
"Hi," He said in a friendly voice.
AKIA trotted up to the rain scouts.
ReplyDelete"Hi! I'm Akia, one of the Ice pack scouts!
Blossom started at Akia for a long moment.
"Auntie.." she whispered. Akia smiled and touched noses with her.
"Hey, you grown up a lot!" The other two rain wolves were staring at Akia as if she were a piece of meat.
(totally fine, friend. :3)
ReplyDelete"And?" he asked, turning to look at the ridiculous pink and white shewolf.
"Oh, I'm Cadence." she giggled, smiling broadly at the black wolf.
Gwyn just nodded and turned his attention back to the 2 alphas.
Ash introduced himself, "My name's Ash, and the other two are-" He gestured to the skinny omega, then the husky, "Skanda and Akia."
ReplyDeleteThe dark brown Rain wolf who was seemingly the leader of the group nodded, then said,
"I'm Declan, the pup is Blossom and the she wolf is Shiba(changed Rain's name to shiba)."
Ash smiled, then started to lead them through the misty jungle.
Catori- Catori ran up to Blossom before she left.
ReplyDelete"Blossom! it been so long since ive seen you! my how youve grown!" She said, smiling proudly at her daughter
"Mom!" Blossom barked, briefly pressing her nose into Catori white pelt, "Im going on a journey as one of the scouts!"
Catori looked worried. A journey was dangerous for a wolf as young and small as Blossom.
"Be care-" Catori started, but the large brown wolf was already nudging Blossom on
CADENCE-Cadence finally made it to the front of the crowd. Huffing, she looked up at torrik and Lira, who both looked on edge and tired.
"What did you name them?" Cadence asked, hoping Lira wouldnt growl at her
"Khonsu and Cotu.." Lira said, her voice tired.
"Stop asking her questions," Torrik growled "Give her some space"
"Oh sorry." said Cadence backing away
Lira lied down her head, exhausted. She was getting older and pups got more and more painful.
ReplyDeleteTorrik nudged her nose, hoping she'd recover soon.
ASH said, "To blood pack?"
"To blood." shiba, a red rain she wolf confirmed as they walked. (lets take this to blood)
Gwyn rolled his eyes again, fed up with the pink wolf with a horn in her face.
ReplyDelete"will you get back?" he growled, shoving the weird she-wolf to the back again.
Skanda dipped his head to the new wolves.
"hello." he said shyly.
"Tor, will you go catch something for me, then dig me a den?"
ReplyDelete"Okay," He said, trying not to sound unenthusiastic. He headed off deeper into the cloud forest. The fog was clearing slightly, so he could see the outline of the trees and vines. Moss hung from the branches in long tendrils, and a pretty turquoise resplendent quetzel bird sung a clear, high pitched song. He perked his ears, listening.
The cloud forest provided little prey besides small birds, but the caribou and musk oxen only migrated during the winter. Still, Torrik liked hunting in the forest; it was pretty and peaceful.
"Pardon me, Lira, but it has occured to me that Torrik is out hunting for you. So, I thought that I could possibly spare him the time and work and dig a den for you now. That way you and your pups are out of the wind while you wait for your meal..." Gwyn barked quietly, standing where Lira could see him without having to turn her head or anything. His black fur was tinted pale blue with frost and it gleamed in the misty light.
ReplyDelete"I don't have to, unless you wish me to." he added after a short pause.
She cocked her head wondering if this was a trap for her pups.
ReplyDeleteNo, she thought, He wants to be a beta and he wants to buddy up with an alpha to improve his chances. She studied him for a moment. He had a tall but strong build, good characteristics for an alpha.
"Yes, please do so. I don't want my pups to get frost bite because of their lack of plentiful fur."
He nodded.
Gwyn followed his instructions and set about digging out a den, only a couple feet away from where Lira was laying.
ReplyDeleteA good while later, Gwyn popped back up out of the hole and padded over to Lira.
"It is done." he dipped his head. "Anything else I can do for you, while I'm here?"
Gwyn's claws ached. The frozen ground had proven tougher than he had previously thought but he didnt let it show.
CADENCE- Cadence watched as the big dark wolf, Gwyn, was getting in good with the alphess.
ReplyDeleteDevious, she thought, and while she knew Gwyn probably didnt want her help, she decided to help him with whatever the Alphess and her pups needed, Padding up to stand beside Gywn she looked at Lira.
"Cadence reporting for duty!" She said enthusiastically
Gwyn's ears twitched, as if he wanted to flatten them, but decided not to.
ReplyDelete"Correction, anything else WE can do?" he murmured, his voice getting quieter than before.
He flicked his tail-tip and shook out his frost-covered pelt. Bits of snow fell from it and Gwyn noticed at how much snow had accumulated from the last time he had shook out his pelt.
He couldn't really say anything about it though, he purposefully slept out in the cold. It was an old habit of his, started when he was still a pup. (in my story, to be exact. XD)
"Not right now," Lira said, stroking her pup. "But once the pup gets older, you can watch her while Torrik and I are out, Cadence."
ReplyDeleteShe picked up both pups by their scruffs and carried them to their newly dug dens.
Gwyn dipped his head and walked off to his usual place near the outskirts of camp and sat down with his back to the rest of the activity in the pack.
ReplyDeleteSoon, Gwyn's thoughts consumed him and he stared aimlessly out at the foggy backdrop.
"Why am I always the quiet one... Is it because of...what happened?" he wondered, giving a small sigh. Then he heard pawsteps and a familiar voice interupted his thoughts.
"Why are you alone?" came Cadence's innocent voice.
Turning his head slightly, so that only half of his head was visible to her, he answered. "I like being alone. It lets me think." he said quietly.