STARFIRE

Chapter 1

'Why is this happening to me? What have I done? Is this destiny? Is this fate? Why me?'

The light- grayish colored, black striped tigress repeatedly told herself as she continued to advance through the shadowed in forest. She couldn't think straight. She didn't care what would happen. She couldn't just turn around and stagger back into the mistake she made.

It was complete silence that night in the forest where the Epsilon pack ruled. The island consisted of seven major packs: Alpha, Delta, Gamma, Epsilon, Beta, Zeta and Omega. The Alphas ruled over the sparkly white blanket-covered mountain tops located in the center of the island, while the Omegas were the descendants of the earth who civilized underground to gather resources. The Epsilon pack had a very gentle way of life, but if they had to, aggression would kick in.

It was a regular night for the Epsilons. The pack was enjoying their weekly celebration feast. All of the members enjoyed this. All except one. A light-grayish tigress with black striped patterns over her body didn't enjoy the way the Epsilon pack was run. She would much rather live a quite life with a caring mate. While the pack was busy stuffing themselves with piles of meat, the sapphire eyed tiger walked off to where it was quite. As she descended into the dark forest, a voice called out from behind her.

"Shira! Wait up!" She looked behind her to see her friend, Krystal, who had similar looks to Shira. She was a bit taller than Shira, and instead of sapphire eyes, she had tinted green eyes.

Shira didn't answer her and waited for her to catch up.

"Where are you going? The feast just started." Krystal said, knowingly knowing how Shira does the same thing at every feast. She's her friend after all, and wouldn't hold it against her.

"Oh…uh…ya, I…uh," Shira stumbled the words in her head, "I, uh, just wanted to be alone for a little bit."

"If you insist." Krystal said grimly.

"You wanna come for a walk? Just for a little bit?" Shira asked, all though it sounded more like hesitation.

"Well, you know how I feel about leaving the pack. These woods haven't been the same, you know?" Krystal reminded.

"Ya, I know, but it won't be long. Just ten minutes, or so." Shira informed, eager to leave.

"…Alright. But the second something weird happens, we're darting back, ok?"

"Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen."

Krystal still wasn't entirely convinced, "Careful what you say, Shira."

"You too." Shira said coldly.

The two walk off into the woods. This forest was filled with so many trees, that the sky was barely visible because of the trees pine needles blocking the view, thus making it hard to believe that any snow got through to hit the ground, yet the snow reached about one or two feet above the ground.

Once the two sabers were far away enough to where they couldn't see the bonfire that the pack set up for the feast, they started up a conversation.

"You seem like you've been down a lot lately." Krystal said.

"Wow, you think? Am I that obvious?" Shira says with a sarcastic grin on her face.

"Well, let's see. Lately, you haven't really said much to anyone, even me. Uh, you hardly ever eat. And just yesterday, you turned down on the strongest male in the pack? I mean, what kind of saber does that?"

"The same kind that doesn't beg for attention, or hell, even needs it." Shira said gloomily. She then sighs. "I can't go on living here." Shira admits. "This isn't for me. I'd rather live alone with a saber who cares for me."

"I care." Krystal tells her.

"I meant a male saber." Shira corrects herself.

" Oh, sorry." Krystal says.

Neither one of them say much until they hear a noise. It sounded like thumping.

"What's that?" Shira asks.

"What's what?" Krystal says looking around.

"That noise, it's getting louder."

Both sabers continue to hear to noise getting louder and louder. Shira finally realizes that it's coming from behind her. She was about to turn around when all of a sudden, she feels a pain in her stomach, and the next thing she knows, she's in the air and slams into a tree. She feels her face come in contact with the ice cold snow as she hits the ground. She didn't know what just happened at that moment. Her vision was blurry and all she could make out were two white figures, one bigger than the other. She also noticed the color red. Wait, red?! She thought. It then hit her that Krystal was bleeding. Whoever slammed her into a tree must have done this to Krystal.

Her vision suddenly came to view and made out her enemy. A seven foot tall enraged polar bear. She also dropped her jaw in shock at Krystal's body. Lifeless. It was the most horrifying image she's ever seen.

At that moment, all of her senses inside of her told to get the hell out of there! Run away! As far as you can go!

She got up as quick as she could and sprinted as fast as she could. Away from the mistake that she made.

All of that happened on that one normal unexpected afternoon.

She continued running. She thought of solutions for this matter, but it was a flat out dead chance there was any salvation for this matter.

She looked back once more, tears streaming down her face, and looked to see if the polar bear was following her.

Right then and there, her leg got cut on a log with a knot sticking out of it. She flipped over and face planted once again into the unforgiving snow.

She looked down at her leg to witness a severely deep cut running across it. She tried getting up. She did, and tried to ignore the pain it brought her.

She was about to give up right there, when she noticed a dim source of moonlight shining from the trees, making her silver coat sparkle. She gets up and limps out of the forest at last.

The view outside was breathtaking. She couldn't remember the last time she was outside of the forest. It came to her attention her bleeding leg. She needed to find a water source. Thankfully, there was one right before her eyes. A river. She limps over to it and descends her back area into the fresh water.

'I wish it were salt water.' Shira tells herself. Salt water heals cuts better than fresh water. Although it would hurt like hell if she did her cut in salt water, it would be worth it. However, fresh water will cause numbness because of the freezing temperature, thus getting rid of the pain in her cut.

As she sits in the freezing cold water, she starts thinking about where to go from here.

"I can't go back. That much is obvious." She thought. "If only there was someone or something, anything, anyone who had an answer, it would make everything a lot better. But why would that happen? Or to me, anyways."

She sighs and just continues to sit there. Part of her was saying that the best way to go was to just bleed to death and die. If nothing else would help her, what would the point of trying be?

She began to cry again, but was cut off short to the sound of growling.

She groans, "Really? Right Now?" She realizes that she hasn't eaten for two days. The depression really got to her. She starts to get up. That's when she notices that it wasn't her stomach that was making that noise. It was something else. That's when it hit her. The polar bear! It must have tracked her down! She was about to look behind her when all of a sudden, a blaze of gold shot out from the bushes and knocked her to the ground.

Shira was pinned down by the throat. She looked up to see a golden furred masculine saber tooth tiger pinning her down. She knew already that she didn't have an option to fight back. He was way too strong.

"You're from the Epsilon pack, aren't you?!" He tells her. Shira was surprised at how strong his voice was.

Shira could hardly breathe from the lack of oxygen that the male saber was cutting off due to his grip on her throat.

Shira had no other option and begged him to release her.

"Please, let me up, please! I'll tell you why I'm here! Please!" She begged.

The male saber denied at first, but that was before he looked at her face completely. He released his grip on her. Shira gasped for breath and breathed heavily. The male saber stayed in a ready position in case she tried to take off.

"Alright," he said, "Why are you here? Epsilons never leave the forest. They get banished if they do."

"I left the pack. I wasn't banished. I would have been if I stayed there any longer."

Shira recapped the long story of how she ended up here. She figured that it didn't matter what she did now. It didn't matter that she was telling something she didn't want anyone to find out about to this stranger that she just met.

After she was done with her recapping, the male saber had a change of heart, "…..I'm sorry." He said.

Shira wasn't sure if it was what she's been through that he was sorry about or how he tried to hurt her, or both for that matter.

"What's your name?" He asks politely.

"Shira" she tells him.

"Well Shira, I'm not sure what you'll do from here, but I can't help you. You're lucky I didn't kill you right then and there." He says and begins to walk off.

"Please help me." Was all Shira could say.

The male saber turned back around, "Why would I help you? You're an Epsilon. You come from a forest that's said to be cursed. Does that not mean anything to you?"

"….No. Should it?"

"It means that if I were to let you travel with me, bad things would happen. I can't trust someone who's lived in a god damn cursed forest for all their life."

"I never enjoyed my life living there. Please take me with you."

"No, I travel alone."

"Alone? What kind of saber does that?"

"The same kind that doesn't beg for attention, or hell, even needs it."

Shira tried not to smirk at the irony that took place in those words, but the male saber saw her.

"What?"

"Nothing, so anyways, shouldn't you be in a pack?" Shira asks.

"A pack, are you kidding? Having to constantly take orders and have a higher in command saber breathing down your back to make sure you make absolutely no mistakes what so ever? No, it's really not the thing for me." He says.

"Well, that makes two of us." Shira says. She then notices that she doesn't know his name yet, so she asks.

"Diego." He tells her.

"What pack did you come from?"

"Delta."

It suddenly made much more sense to Shira. The Delta and Epsilon packs were vicious rivals with each other. But what didn't make sense was the fact that Diego still tried to attack her even though he said he travels alone. Could he still be a part of Delta? She didn't bother asking. Even more confusing was the fact that Diego could have killed her right then and there like he said earlier. So why didn't he? There were so many unanswered questions.

"So, you quit, you said?" Shira asks.

"Ya, why?" Diego asks back.

"Then what would the problem be if I were to travel with you?"

"I'm looking for something."

That was as far as Shira went. She didn't bother asking anymore. She was about to just walk away and cry herself to sleep knowing that nothing was left in life for her.

"If you really want to, you can travel with me. Just don't get all mushy on me. I'm not doing it for you. I'll need some help looking for that something."

Shira immediately turned around.

"Alright, thank you."

"It's getting dark. We should find some place to sleep for the night."

"Ok." Shira agreed. So they both walk off into the open plains in search of a cave to stay in for the night.