Chapter 1: Rising Smoke and Falling Stones
It had been a peaceful evening. The Whistler and Dearlea, who had become mates just a moon before, were watching the sun set over the frozen sea, which was now entirely thawed, but the name had stuck.
Maudie, Abban and Myrr played together by the sea. Caila, Katria, and Airmead all lay in the shallowest part of the sea, enjoying the cool licks of water brushing against their coats. Faolan and Edme lay in their den. They admired their pups, which had been born just minutes before.
"What are we going to name them? I want names that are meaningful," Edme said softly, "We should take our time with names. It isn't something you can rush. You know, I was thinking about naming one of them," She never finished this sentence. A crack of thunder exploded outside. The 2 wolves snug in their den heard the yelps and screams of the wolves that lay outside.
"What in the name of Lupus?" Faolan whispered to himself as he rose up from the pelt he had been laying on.
"What do you think happened?" Edme asked Faolan. She looked ready to stand up and head out with Faolan.
"Don't get up, Edme," Faolan said gently, "Stay here; I'll check what's going on,"
Faolan rushed outside and bolted to the sea side. He didn't have to ask what was wrong, for he immediately saw it. A fire raged through a forest that was less than a league away from where Edme lay with their pups.
"Lighting struck! Somehow, none of us saw the storm come in," The whistler suddenly appeared beside Faolan.
"I need to save Edme, Edme and the pups!" Faolan said, more to himself than anyone else. He raced to where his den that he shared with Edme sat atop a large pile of stone. He had barely run at all when there was a great cracking noise. Faolan halted in his tracks. He watched in horror as a large tree fell right onto his den.
"EDME! No!" Faolan roared as the tree hit the side of the den and the pile of rocks tumbled down. He began to dash for the pile of broken rocks and stones that had once been his den, when The Whistler threw himself into Faolan's path. Faolan stumbled and nearly knocked into The Whistler's body, but stopped himself just in time.
"Are you cag mag? Get out of the way!" Faolan roared at his friend.
"No! It isn't safe! The fire is just going to spread! We need to leave! At least until the fire stops spreading!" The Whistler said firmly. "Now turn around. We have to go out into the sea. Fire can't harm us there, so go!"
A quiet growl issued from the back of his throat, but Faolan listened to his friend and turned around. He took one last look at the pile of stone that was once his den, where his mate and pups were left to die, unless they had already been killed.
Chapter 2: They've Climbed
"Faolan?" Myrr asked, nearly 3 days after the fire.
"What is it, Myrr," he asked softly.
"I've been looking in the sky every night, every single night, but there's something I never see. I n-never see Edme c-climb the Star Ladder. Why?"
"Don't worry, Myrr," Faolan replied in a soothing tone, "I'm sure that she'll climb the Star Ladder soon, very soon!" Faolan wondered how convincing he was to the young pup, as he was worried about the same thing himself. Suddenly, Dearlea threw her head back and howled. The wolves all looked at her, and then looked up into the night sky.
"You were right," Myrr said in a shaky voice as he watched the Lochin of a wolf leap gracefully from rung to rung on the ladder. Myrr wasn't sure if anyone else saw it, but he knew that the wolf had turned its head, revealing the fact that it had only one eye. And Myrr knew that the wolf had winked at him, as Edme often did since they arrived to the Distant Blue. The wolf looked down as 2 small misty figures climbed from rung to rung right behind her. The wolves took one last look at the world, and leapt into the arms of Skaarsgard.
"They've climbed. You were right, Faolan, they've climbed," Myrr said, still staring into the stars.
Chapter 3: The Wolf from a Broken den
The small group of wolves had found a small island after the fire. Now, many, many moons later, they were still here. They had sent Faolan, The Whistler, and Caila to inspect the damage and see if it was safe to go back. However, the 3 wolves found no sign of any life left. The entire Distant Blue was just gone. But now, they were used to living on the small island. Myrr and Faolan had never truly gotten over Edme's death. Faolan worried about Myrr deeply, and he kept an eye on him as he grew up. Once Myrr became a young adult, he started to wander off every day. No one knew where he went. The island was too small for him to be hiding there, so he obviously left. One day, he was gone for an especially long time. Faolan couldn't take the stress of not knowing where Myrr was any longer.
"Myrr, tell me where you have been going," Faolan said firmly when Myrr returned from his journey, "You can't leave so much without us knowing where you are!"
Myrr was taken aback by Faolan's sudden sternness.
"Don't you know that I'm not a Pup anymore? You don't have to keep an eye on me all the time!" Myrr was mad that Faolan didn't trust him.
"TELL ME!" Faolan growled.
Once again, Myrr was taken aback by Faolan's attitude towards him. This wasn't usual. He decided to tell him.
"I've met someone, okay!" Myrr blurted out.
"Who?" Faolan asked, immediately lowering his voice.
"Her name is Finoula and," Myrr began, but Faolan stopped listening there. Finoula was the name of one of his gyre souls.
"Faolan, are you even listening?" Myrr asked, snapping Faolan out of his deep thought.
"Yes, yes," Faolan said.
"Her mother died and so did her 2 brothers. She was only a pup. She lives in the Distant Blue,"
"Wait, what?" Faolan asked.
"What do you mean?" Myrr asked.
Chapter 4: Paw fast
"I always thought we were alone in the Distant Blue, at least as far as wolves go," Caila said. All of the wolves in their little group were gathered on the shore of the little island. Myrr would be coming any minute now, bringing Finoula, the wolf he had told Faolan about a few days before.
"Apparently, Myrr has known her for a long time. He told me that he'd known her for too many moons to count," Faolan said. "I just want to know why he went back to the Distant Blue after we came here. It's just not like him to wander off. What if something's wrong with him?"
"I'm sure that he's fine, Faolan," Dearlea said softly.
"He's here," Mhairie whispered so quietly that it was barely audible. Each of the wolves turned their heads. They could clearly see Myrr swimming with the young she-wolf with a Russet Colored coat.
"She looks like," Dearlea started to say, but Faolan finished the sentence for her.
"Edme," he said.
"Exactly," Dearlea said. Even though there were small conversations between the wolves, no one took their eyes off of the 2 wolves swimming toward them.
It was almost 3 whole days after they had met Finoula. She was kind, sweet, and smart. Faolan noticed that not only did the she-wolf look like Edme; she acted much like Edme had, too. One day, Finoula and Myrr often wandered off, but they never left the island. One day, they were gone for an especially long time.
"Faolan, can I tell you something?" Myrr asked timidly shortly after returned from his long day away with Finoula.
"Of course, you can trust me. And I trust you," Faolan said.
"Okay, here goes nothing," Myrr said and closed his eyes, "I asked Finoula to be my mate, to be Paw fast!"
"That's great, Myrr," Faolan said, "It's amazing, but, I have something to tell you,"
"What is it?" Myrr asked, concerned and worried about what Faolan had to say.
"Don't worry, it's just that, well, you know," Faolan stumbled through his words, "I think that, no, I know that, Finoula is one of my pups. 2 of them died with Edme. Remember that 2 lochins of pups followed Edme up the star ladder? Well, those were her 2 brothers!" Faolan explained.
"It's amazing isn't it? How life works in such ways? I guess I should have known. By Lupus, I swear I saw that fire in her eyes," Myrr spoke softly.