Wolfstar's Rise To Power

It was a dark night, and a blanket of think fog lay heavy in the air. A small group of cats lay in the middle of a small island in a dense forest. Overhead, the moon was hidden by a thick layer of clouds. The largest of the cats, a black and white she-cat, rose to her paws.

"This forest has supported us for countless moons. And we have the water that runs off the mountains. There, on the mountains, live the two pack of wolves. If we could befriend them, we could win theses wretched battles against rival cats," she growled.

"That's well and all Wolf," a red she-cat meowed," but how do you suppose to do that? Those wolves live in complete isolation, and are at war themselves."

A light blue tabby tom sitting next to her sat up and looked at the moon. "Ice is right, Wolf," he meowed, finally looking at Wolf. "What do you suggest we do to befriend them-"

His words were cut off as Wolf's two kits bounded up and pounced on him. He gently batted them away, but again they tackled him.

"Lightning! Thunder! Get off now!" Wolf scolded. "Rain, you do have a good point. If I could meet with the pack leader and talk with them, we could work out a treaty."

A blue furred tom, Candle, walked up. "Excuse me if I'm out of line, Wolf. But you have to remember, these are wolves, four times bigger than you. They could swallow any cat whole."

Wolf nodded. "I know, Candle. But whether or not they can swallow me whole, im going to try. You're in charge while I'm gone Ice. Candle will you come with me?"

Candle nodded. "With pleasure."

"We leave at down. Eat and get plenty of rest. If it doesn't go well, we'll need all our strength."

******

As the sun started shining through the trees, Wolf stretched and rose. She yawned and went to wake Candle. They caught a piece of fresh-kill to eat and started on their way. Wolf led the way through the forest up to the mountains. She noticed small ledges along the mountain side. Nodding to Candle, Wolf carefully began to claw her way up the mountain. Not long after she began climbing, the black and white she-cat noticed long, deep marks embedded in the rock.

Rubbing her muzzle along one, she smelled a strange, yet faint scent. "These must be from the Wolf Packs. We must be getting close, be careful and don't lag behind."

Several fox-lengths later, the two cats reached the tallest ledge. They sat and looked out over the forest. Candle turned around and nearly jumped out of his fur. A giant hole lay in back of the cats. Wolf looked up, nodded, then turned and began walking in.

"Ouch! It's pitch black in here!" Candle whined.

The cave stretched on for what seemed like seasons, or perhaps a single heartbeat.

"H-hey! Wolf! I see-" Candle cut himself short. "Light," he finished after walking out of the cave.

Taking another step, something crunched under paw. Snow. A light fog lay in the air, too. Scenting the air, Wolf could just make out the scent she smelled on the mountain side.

"They definitely live here. See if you can't find any tracks." Wolf sniffed the air and walked off. She saw a white hare not far away. Crouching down, careful not to make the snow crunch, she tiptoed forward.

The hare froze, turned, saw Wolf, and raced off, disappearing behind a bush. Wolf caught up to it and bit it in the back of the neck, killing it instantly. She dragged it to where Candle was waiting patiently in the snow. "Let's eat. Then we'll be on our way."

Candle nodded. They ate quickly, awareness creeping through their fur.

"Any ideas to where they might be?" Wolf asked.

"I found tracks, but the snow is falling fast and covering them up. There was also a faint scent, barely noticeable, though." Candle nodded to tracks a few fox-lengths away.

Walking up to it, Wolf put her paw in the paw print. The track was four times bigger than hers. Candle walked up next to her and nodded. Suddenly he tensed, ears pricked.

"What was that?" He meowed. Wolf pricked her ears and listened. "Listen," he meowed.

She heard silence. Wolf looked to him and shrugged. She turned, ready to walk off, when she heard a distant howling. It got louder, and Wolf heard barking and the crunching of snow. Candle looked at her, his eyes wide. The she-cat smelt his fear-scent, and was pretty sure the wolves could too. Wolf stiffened when she felt the hot breath of a wolf on her neck. She turned to see three giant dog-like creatures.

"Well well well, look what we have here," one of them said.

Another growled in agreement. "Couple of strays."

The first spoke again. "Unless you want to get eaten leave the mountains at once!"

Wolf hesitated. Then she straightened herself and looked the wolf in the eyes. "We're not going anywhere," she snarled. "Take us to your leader. Now!"

One of the wolves chuckled and growled lightly. "Feisty. Be patient."

Wolf hissed. Getting the message, Candle arched his back and growled, unsheathing his curved claws.

'We're not getting out of this without fur flying,' Wolf thought to herself after realizing they were trapped between the three wolves.

"Follow," the lead wolf barked. "Let's see what Fangs has to say about this."

Candle and Wolf followed the patrol to their cave, where they saw wolves of all sorts. Wolf pups, old wolves, young wolves, wolves fighting over bones. The howling and commotion stopped when the two cats walked past. Walking to the back of the cave, they saw a skinny black female wolf, guarding an entrance to another cave.

She rose to her paws and growled. "State your business."

The three wolves parted to reveal the cats. Looking back, Wolf saw every mutt in the cave watching with suspicion in their eyes. Seeing the two cats eyeing her, the guard-wolf nodded and disappeared into the cave she was blocking the entrance to. She reappeared moments later with a larger male behind her. Spotting Wolf, he stepped forward.

"My name is Fangs of Black Wolf. This is the Pack of Fangs. Dare I ask why there are cats in the mountains?" the lead wolf introduced himself with a dip of the head.

Wolf didn't want to seem rude, so she dipper her head in return, flicking her tail, telling Candle to do the same. "I am Wolf and this is Candle. We come from the forest below these mountains." She narrowed her eyes and a low growl sounded from her throat. "I come to ask for a. peace treaty."

All the wolves in the cave barked out loud with laughter. Fangs howled for silence.

"And if I refused?" He ventured.

"Let's fight it out then. If you win, we leave and never return. If I win, you and your wolves must obey my commands, and the commands of the future leaders' of my cats."

Fangs narrowed his eyes in thought. "Alright then. Show me your strength!"

The wolves and Candle moved away to make room. The black and white she-cat hesitated, blood pounding in her ears. Narrowing her eyes to mere slits, she lowered her head and stepped forward. The Pack leader lunged for her throat, but Wolf jumped high up and landed on the wolfs' back. She dug her claws in and bit down hard on the back of his neck. Fangs yelped in pain, dropped to the ground and rolled. Jumping off at the last second, she scored her claws deep into Fangs' black throat, drawing enough blood to kill a cat. The wolf yelped and growled. He lunged, just missing the she-cat's neck, and bit her tail. Wolf screeched in pain, and slashed wildly, catching Fangs on the nose and above the eye. The leader let go, whined, and swiped his long pink tongue over his nose. He then backed off and sighed, causing more blood to flow from the wound on his throat.

Fangs lowered his head in defeat, blood dripping into his eyes. "State your policies."

Wolf growled and lightly chuckled. She was going to have fun with this.

*******

"Pack of Fangs isn't the only WolfPack in these mountains. There are others, but the closest to us are the Pack of Claws," Fangs barked above the crunching of the snow.

Wolf nodded and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, carefully following the the black wolf to a way out of the mountains. Candle saw this look and shivered. There was an evil gleam in the she-cats' eyes, or more like hunger for power. It disappeared almost as soon as Fangs reached the edge of the mountainside.

Fangs stopped. "This is as far as I will go. Repeat those those words, and you will summon my Pack. Be wise on how you use them." Fangs dipped his head in farewell.

"Farewell, for now," Wolf growled, dipped her head, Candle repeating the gesture.

The she-cat swiped her tongue along her muzzle, before turning and heading down the winding rocky path, Candle hard on her paws.