The shadow of a large male wolf danced over the jagged edges of the mountain of which he was bounding up. Bright pink paws beat against the uneven ground, displacing the nearby pebbles and dust. Only when he reached the top did the wolf come into view of any onlookers that might've been watching him. The sun was just beginning to rise over the territory and it was a beautiful sight to the wolf. Proudly, he padded up to the edge of the mountain, lifted his ivory furred muzzle and howled for all to hear….

"I am awesome!"

"Brotherrrr!" A deep howl sounded from the western half of the territory. Gilbert descended the mountain in a few bouncing strides. He started toward his brother at a powerful lope. His lips curled into his characteristic smirk when he approached the rock on which his younger brother sat. The blond wolf was facing away from Gilbert and perched on top of an old den that the pack before them had used to raise pups. A shallow stream ran just a few meters away from it. Gilbert slowed his pace to a stealthy walk, his body lowered to the ground to reduce the noise of his pawsteps.

"Hey West!" Gilbert leapt forward and knocked his younger brother into the stream. A look of shock crossed the younger wolf's face as he fell face first into mud and water.

"Kesesesese!" Gilbert collapsed on the cool stone of the den in laughter. "Oh, Ludwig! The l-look on y-your face-e!"

Sputtering and snarling, Ludwig dragged himself out of the water and immediately shook his fur out. "Dummkopf! Vhere is a serious matter vat hand!"

Gilbert just rolled onto his back and laughed. "Kesese, there is no problem that the awesome me can't solve!"

Ludwig ignored his brother's overly confident remark and padded onto the rock beside him. The territory seemed quiet enough at the moment; the only noise coming from the stream and the distant vocalizations of their packmates. But on more than one occasion he had caught the scent of an unfamiliar wolf in his nose. The possibility of an intruder entering the territory worried Ludwig to no end. Of course, he had an amazing sentinel to keep watch over the border, but there was only so much that Kiku could do on his own. And it wasn't like that coward Feliciano or Ludwig's dummkopf of a brother (who , unfortunately, happened to be his partner in leading the group of bachelors) were going to help him defend the territory.

Ludwig lowered himself to the ground, put his paws over his eyes, and heaved a huge sigh of annoyance. Gilbert flipped over and nudged him, becoming a bit worried. "What is it, West?"

The blond wolf uncovered one sapphire eye and focused it on Gilbert. "Vhere might ve a lone volf around ve territory's borders."

Gilbert's ears perked up. "Did you catch a scent? Show me where." He followed his brother out of the den area and into the tall grassy meadow that served as the hunting ground. The white wolf dropped his pink nose to the ground and sniffed about casually, ignoring the scent trails of his packmates and the elk. Suddenly, he stiffened and his head lifted up into the air. "There is an un-awesome stranger's scent disturbing the awesomeness of my territory! I will find it and rid of it at once!" The pure white wolf shot off into a full sprint in the direction of the scent leaving a somewhat startled Ludwig behind him.

"Vait!" His shouts fell on deaf ears as he started after Gilbert. "Where there's vone volf...there're many others close vehind…"