Notes:
This story is inspired by Warriors written by Erin Hunter. I should also give partial credit to the website Wolfplaygame and its creators, as their website also inspired me and gave me ideas for this. These characters are of my own creation.
If you have any ideas as to how to continue this story, feel free to suggest them to me! I will not be updating this every day, though I will try for at least once a week. I think that's it for now, so enjoy!
Ch.1
~River~
River leapt from one stone to the next, the water barely touching the tips of her toes. When she landed on the other side of the creek, she frowned as her paws sunk into the soft earth, staining her dark grey fur. She trudged away from the water's edge, shaking mud from her paws with every step. The farther she walked from the creek, the dryer the terrain became. When she got to ground that no longer squished between her pads, River broke into a run.
The trees that zipped by her were just a blur as she raced, the wind howling in her ears. To River, there was no greater bliss than to run through her pack's territory, as long as it wasn't on some errand. She slowed as the pack scent strengthened around her. She was nearing Quarters.
Quarters is not only where the den is located, but it is basically the pack's living area. They do have their entire territory to live in, but Quarters is in the center of it all where the pack shares most of their meals, raise their pups, and over-all live together. The rest of their territory is mainly used for hunting and status.
As River approached, she heard a slight rustle in the bushes to her right. She turned toward it and smiled. "Did I ever tell you how bad you are at sneaking up on me?" A white form rises and walks toward her. "Just about every chance you get." he replies with a grin. In the sunlight, the cream colored brindle pattern on his coat can be seen. "Then why do you keep trying, Birch?" she asks as she sniffs his shoulder in greeting. Birch sniffs her back. "Call me determined." Suddenly, Birch's grin disappears. "Ridge sent me to get you."
River flicks her ear. "Why? Is something happening?" she asked, the worry clear in her voice. Birch takes a step back. "I'll tell you on the way to Quarters."
"Darkseekers were spotted in our territory. Fox and Ivy want to make sure everyone is accounted for, so they had Ridge send out wolves to bring back those that are hunting and patrolling the territory." he explains as they walk. Fox is the Alpha male of the Whispering Wind Pack, and Ivy is his mate and Alpha female. Ridge is the pack's Beta male and son of the Alphas.
River's eyes widened. "Darkseekers?" There were three kinds of wolves. Lightbringers, Rogues, and Darkseekers. River and her pack are Lightbringers. They are usually peaceful and believe in balance; balance between light and dark. Life and Death. They usually have naturistic names, such as the names of plants and other animals.
Darkseekers are different. They are known to be aggressive, selfish, and secretive. Their names are not naturistic, but are strange names with hidden meanings. Normally, they only come out at night so as to stay hidden, but they have been seen in the daylight before. Just like now.
Rogues are somewhat in-between. They ignore borders, but they're usually cowardly. Rogues can form rouge packs, but they still aren't considered honorable wolves. Both Lightbringers and Darkseekers see them as filth and treat them as such.
River and Birch arrived at Quarters. It was a large clearing, with the main den almost in the center and the pup den close by. The pup den is where the she-wolves go to give birth and raise their pups. When the mothers are strong again and their pups are big enough, they will live in the main den with the rest of the pack. They also kept their food in the main den so that it was out of the sun and easily accessible.
River's and Birch's pack mates were crowded together, waiting for orders from Fox and Ivy. Ice, the Beta female, was sitting outside the pup den while she listened. A black wolf in the group stands when he sees River and Birch, and he quickly walks over to them. "Good. You're back." he says, clearly relieved. "The both of you should go to the den with the other Twos and Threes." A Two is a two year old wolf, and a Three is a three year old wolf. Twos and Threes are adolescents, Fours through Elevens are adults, and anything older is considered an elder. Birch and River were both Threes.
Birch's ears lay back. "But Night, I've been training! You have to let me come!" River frowned. As eager as Birch was, there was no way Night would take him with the others to confront Darkseekers. She didn't know why Birch would even bother to ask, although she wasn't surprised. Just as she expected, Night shook his head. "No, Birch. You're strong, but you're not ready for something like this." As he spoke, Flower, a black wolf with white and brown markings, had come over to them. "Night. Ridge wants you to come with his group to the southern border." Birch's ears perked and he asked, "Is that were they are?" Night gave him a hard look. "To the den." When Night and Flower turned away, the young male's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Birch walked slowly to the main den, his head hanging. River looked at him with sympathy before catching up with Night. "What are you going to do?" Without slowing his pace, Night answered, "Whatever we have to do. But if it's anything like our last encounter, it will probably end with us chasing them off." River's stomach churned with worry. "How many are there?" Finally, Night slowed a bit. "Four, I think. Maybe three." River nodded. Not many, but she knew there was still danger. Suddenly, a frightening thought came to mind. "But Night, what if it's a trap? You know, like an ambush?" Chills ran up her spine. Before Night could answer, she asked, "How many of you are going? Which wolves?" Night stopped and faced her. "River, calm down. We've already considered it being a trap, and we'll be watching closely. I'm sorry, but I don't really have time to discuss it. When we come back, you and the rest of the pack will be told everything." He touched her ear with his nose as a goodbye, and he ran off with five of her pack mates. River stared after them before going to the main den. When she entered the den, she saw Birch sitting quietly near the wall and Thistle playing with his sister, Maple. Thistle and Maple were Twos. Having just recently come out of pup-hood, they were still very playful and they rolled around, oblivious to the stress in the pack.
As River walked toward Birch, she spotted Leopard, who she hadn't originally seen because of her dark coat. River changed her course and walked toward her. As she got closer, she could see the red flecks in her black fur. Leopard's green eyes were filled with thought, and she was startled when River approached. "Oh. Hello, River." River sat in front of Leopard. "Hello." she said as she sniffed her shoulder. "Didn't you want to go with the others?" Leopard was a Five, and she was usually ready to fight for the pack. Leopard smiled. "Of course, but Fox wanted Ridge to choose more experienced wolves to go with him." River smiled back, but she couldn't relax. She was so filled with unease, she thought she would faint. Leopard seemed to sense this as she told her, "They'll be okay. This isn't exactly their first fight with Darkseekers." River flinched at that. "But they'll try to avoid a fight, won't they?" she asked, her voice tight. Leopard sighed and slid onto her stomach. "Probably. But if you ask me, those Darkseekers deserve a good beating. They can't just come into our territory and expect no consequences." River said nothing but gave a silent nod. She didn't see any point in risking serious injury to themselves, or even the Darkseekers, over trespassing. And Night had said there were only three or four, so surely they wouldn't think a fight was necessary.
Seeing that the conversation was over, Leopard closed her eyes. River sat there a moment longer before she stood and walked over to Birch. She sat down beside him. "You okay?" she asked, sniffing at his shoulder. Birch grinned at her. "Yea. After all, it's not like it was my last chance to defend our territory. There will be other opportunities." He sounded reasonable, but his eyes could not hide how he felt. River nudged him with her shoulder. "You're right. You'll be able to prove yourself in no time." Birch nodded his thanks, then resumed staring at the ground. River sighed inwardly. He was so eager to truly be part of the pack. "Could it be that his need to prove himself to the pack is because he was not born here?" she wondered to herself, but she quickly dismissed the thought. "No. I wasn't born into the pack either, and I don't have such determination." River and Birch had been adopted by the pack when they were pups.
They hadn't been found together, nor were they found at the same time. Birch was found on the outskirts of the territory alone, and River's father had taken her to the pack. He could not take care of her because her mother had died while pupping, so she could not be fed. His small pack of Lightbringers didn't have any females that recently had pups, so he sought out another Lightbringer pack. The closest pack was the Whispering Wind Pack, and that was still far away. They agreed to feed River until she was old enough to eat prey. Her father had to go back to his pack because a pack as small as his needed all their wolves for hunting. He told them that he would come back in a year to take her home. A year came and went… and then another. The pack didn't know where his pack's territory was, so they could not take her there themselves. So here she stayed. Birch always jokingly complained about her story being more interesting than his.
A young, silver wolf named Storm had raised River. Storm could feed her because her pup, Leopard, was being weaned at the time. Flower's two pups died soon after birth, so she was able to feed and raise Birch.
As River thinks of the day Storm told her of how she came to be in the pack, she felt Birch nudge her to attention. "River, they're back!" he said, his earlier disappointment forgotten. His news wakes Leopard, who stands and quickly walks out of the den, clearly as anxious to know what had happened as Birch was. Thistle and Maple get up and follow her out, still nipping at each other. "Come on, River, or we'll be the last ones to hear about it!" Birch said, practically jumping to his paws. River stood and together they walked out of the den.
When River saw the wolves that had returned, she shivered. They didn't seem badly hurt, but she could see the scratches on them. It sure looks like there was an ambush. She and Birch came closer to the group, where Ridge was reporting what had happened. "When we got there, another had appeared." he was saying when they were within earshot. "We still outnumbered them by one, but…" he trailed off, but soon continued. "But they were ready. I think they knew we were coming." Tiger, a light brown wolf with a black brindle pattern, lay his ears flat. "How could they have known?" he growled. "Snow came straight back to us after he saw them!" Snow is Ridge's half-brother and Ivy's son. She had had him before she became Alpha.
Ridge gazed calmly at the Four. "Then perhaps they heard him. Or he could've been down wind." At that, a white wolf stood. "I'm not a Two, Ridge. I don't make such mistakes anymore." Ridge looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Experienced as you are, Snow, anyone can make even the simplest of mistakes." The two wolves stared at each other, their muscles tensed. River was sure they would break into a fight when Night stood between them. "How they found out isn't our biggest problem right now." Fox nodded. "You're right." Turning to Ridge he said, "We need to increase patrols in the territory. Ivy and I will discuss this with you and Ice by the main den." He stood, speaking to all the wolves. "Right now, I want Night, Storm, and Flower to do a quick patrol of the southern border. Snow and Tiger, choose a Three to hunt with you in the north."
Once Fox had dismissed the pack and walked away with Ivy and the Betas, Tiger called out to Birch. "You want to come with us?" Birch wagged his tail and was walking toward the two wolves when he stopped and looked back at River. She smiled. "Go on. But you better come back with a moose." she joked. Birch grinned. "Sure, but what will the rest of us eat?" River laughed, "Just go! I could use some time with you out of my fur." Smiling, Birch turned and trotted over to Tiger and Snow. River watched as they sniffed shoulders and ran into the forest. The trio was out of sight, but she watched a moment longer before returning to Quarters.
River walked toward the nursery den, wanting to look at the pups. As she passed the main den, she couldn't help but glance at the conversing Alphas and Betas. When she entered, she greeted Pool, a silver wolf with black legs. As an older wolf, this was going to be her last litter. She had only had one pup this time, but it had gotten sick and died. But one of Pool's older sons, Oak, had had pups with a female from another pack. She had given him one of the pups, the only male of the litter, and Pool was able to feed him.
Silver nuzzled the little bundle of fur that lay dozing at her side. The pup squinted up at its grandmother with a small whine. River admired the pup's white pelt and silver brindle markings. A lot like his father.
River smiled. Leopard will need to stay here soon. she thought to herself. Leopard recently announced her pregnancy, but has not revealed the father. Which wasn't unusual. Though most don't admit it, the fathers are usually from other Lightbringer packs. River even heard that a rogue had fathered a pup or two in the pack. She nodded again to Pool before leaving the nursery.
As she exited, she could feel the tension in the air as some of her pack mates bustled about while others sat silently. She sighed as she walked to the main den.