Turning her back to the harsh winds and towards her future Aleu began to realise the gravity of what had just taken place. Her fur was still wet from her swim between the ice flows and her body was going numb, both on the outside and in.
She had left her father behind. He was her teacher, her protector, and guardian throughout her whole life, but she had chosen to leave, to start a new life without the comfort of familiarity, surrounded unfamiliar by wolves. The ice beneath her paws moved slowly, creating what felt like a lullaby, rocking her back and forth. Her eyes closed, the cold air combed her thick fur away from her face.
Suddenly the ice cracked ahead of her. Her ears, picking up on the sound begged her eyes to open. The danger set in. She realised she had to go now or drown alone in the unforgiving Arctic waters.
Turning around she saw a group of strangers. Creatures she had never met before, and she had chosen to be one of them. Justifying that choice in her head was becoming harder the farther she felt from her farther, but she had to push on.
Looking ahead, the path of ice still formed a bridge to the other side, clearly directing her to a new future, one she hoped would be prosperous and would help her finally become who she was meant to be.
She took her first steps mindlessly, out of instinct. One paw in front of the other she dug her claws into the ice for stability, careful to be sure footed before taking the next step. Gaining confidence she started to walk a little faster, and started to jump from piece to piece across the bridge. She could feel and hear others creeping behind her, just as unsure as she was.
She turned around just in time to see the ice flows beginning to separate and scatter off into the distance. She panicked. She turned. She ran.
They didn't have much time to make it and there was no sign of shore in sight. The wolves began to separate. Taking different paths in different directions they had no idea which way the island was, and had no way to tell as they couldn't see through all the dense fog and snow.
Aleu, ahead of the group, was breathing hard. She rushed ahead, losing the pack behind her. She was afraid. She was going to be left out here to die of starvation, or drown.
"Whichever was less painful," she thought. A tear rolled down her snout onto cheeks. She breathed in the thick air and exhaled. Her heart stopped.
She caught it. The scent of pine. She stopped running and turned behind her, let out a bellowing call to the others. She had been so lost in herself that she had almost forgotten her responsibilities. Wolves answered her back, and she howled again. It was a call of hope, and relief. Soon the others managed to come together one by one to slowly form a pack once again.
They followed their noses towards the fresh smell, and it eventually lead to safety. The shore began to introduce itself. Its rich greens and browns were the first displays of prosperity. Followed by its tall cliffs and mountain peaks, similar to the land they inhabited before, but teeming with life.
Aleu continued on, a little less afraid now as the ice they walked on now covered shallow waters. The sight of the forest moved her. Since she had left home she hadn't seen such a lively place, except this wasn't lively with humans, it was animals.
Birds sang from the trees their sweet unwritten songs. Fish swam below them towards a nearby stream. Most fish wouldn't make the whole journey, and those that did would die and not return. However not before giving rise to new life, and starting a new cycle.
The wolves and Aleu stepped foot on the beach. Its sandy, rocky texture was the islands way of welcoming them, after their journey across the slippery ice. However that welcome was to be cut short.
"What were you thinking!?" A dark brown she wolf asked angrily as she stepped onto the shore with the last of the pack. Aleu turned to face her, taken by surprise she turned her ears downward, and her tail uncontrollably sunk between her legs.
"You almost got half of us killed! What kind of a leader are you? You ran and left us to fend for ourselves, maybe Nava was wrong, you're not fit to be a leader," she barked as she walked away. Some wolves followed her off up into the cliff side, while others seemed confused still.
Aleu came to the realization of what she had done. The she wolf was right, she had left everyone behind, and in her panicked fear she had forgotten about everyone else. This wasn't who she was before. This isn't what Nava thought she would have turned out to be. This certainly wasn't what she wanted to be.
She had decided to stay because she had felt like she didn't belong home, and already here she had made herself look foolish and weak in front of the others. She looked around at the other wolves searching for answers. Unfortunately they were all doing the same to her. They were a pack without a leader, they had no one to follow and no one they could trust. Unsure and afraid, the other wolves spilt off in different groups leaving Aleu alone.
She sat on the beach, the cold air still blowing through her still damp fur, and she listened. She felt helpless. She had thought that after this journey was over that she would have all the answers, but here she had been left with more questions.
She had come all this way to find out who she was, and so far she didn't like who she had become. Leaving her whole life behind her had hurt, and it was hard for her to suddenly fill the shoes of such a wise leader that Nava was for all these wolves who were left in nothing less than a crises. Thinking to herself, feeling increasingly lost, she shut her eyes, laid down and sighed.
All of the sudden she reopened her eyes and sat her front of her, appearing out of nowhere per usual, was an old friend.
