Chapter Two:

The Beginning

A ruby colored fox picked its way through the snow. Her head hung. Her kits had recently been killed by a passing grizzly.

"Stupid bear!" she thought angrily, green fire dancing in her eyes, it died as her grief overcame her. Snowflakes coated the path, as well as the fox, and she shook herself. Her nimble paws made no sound as she picked her way through her forest. Suddenly her ears pricked forward. Had she heard one of her kits calling? She bounded across the snow, pausing every so often to listen. She sniffed the air, she smelled something, not sure what it was, she crept forward slowly. A whimper came up from a bundle on the ground. A gray pup lay on the ground, almost covered with snow. She dug the pup out, and carried it to her den. It was a cozy niche between the roots of a tree. Diving into it she deposited the pup in her nest. Then she went back for the others.

Far away, across the forest other families trying to escape Xe, fell against the balkar. Lera banded together, each helping each other until, four litters remained, orphaned, taken in by lera of different kinds. Be it bear, fox, coyote, or cougar, lera banded against Xe, taking in the abandoned pups, for an unknown reason. Some say the sight was at work, others that Tor and Fenriss were unhappy with Xe. Whatever the reason the pups survived their first winter, and drifted into spring…

Serii:

"C'mon Hanira, the sun's waiting!" Serii, a golden pup, called to her slightly lighter sister.

"Falcon says we shouldn't leave the den without her though." Hanira pointed out to Serii, always having been the more sensible of the two. Her brothers were dead, who else would look after Serii?

"Shut up, Falcon won't be back for another hour, she says she's hunting, whatever that is."

Playful Serii bounded onto the ledge that surrounded their mother's den. Falcon was a cougar. Reluctantly Hanira followed. Serii ran down the slope, sending rocks showering down the mountain. Hanira on the other hand, was practicly falling down the mountain, not at all happy to be on the mountain.

"C'mon stop being a turtle! Follow me!" she yipped, flying into a meadow, only to collide with a tree stump.

"Serii! Are you ok?" Hanira rushed to her sister's side, forgetting all about the mountain.

Galaed:

The pup stared after the fox. His gray coat blowing in the wind, matched with his black paws, and yellow eyes. He was a classic gray wolf. He had been with the fox for only a little, enough so that his eyes, and ears opened, and he could walk. She had abandoned him just before spring. The fox had no way of taking care of four hungry wolf pups, so Amber had chosen the weakest, and left it when there was no other option. He whimpered hungrily. Amber had taught him little hunting skills, he had only just caught an insect, when she left him. Determined to find something, he sniffed the crisp air. He smelled rabbit, and mouse.

"Maybe, just maybe I can get one of those." he thought glumly.

Creeping forward, he got closer and closer keeping brush behind him. He sprang, and missed the rabbit. It shot off like a bullet, leaving the pup well behind. Galaed tried to follow, but the rabbit outran him. He stood panting from exhaustion, before turning his attention to something else. At the base of a tree a squirrel had fallen and broken its neck. Wearily he sniffed it, and was shocked to find that it had only been dead for a few hours. Shaded by the tree, he ate the squirrel. His stomach ceased its grumbling. Something instinctive told him he needed to find shelter, and fast.

Fenra:

Fenra awoke slowly, blinking her green eyes sleepily. Stifling a yawn, she stretched the muscles under her white pelt rippling. She padded over, and shook her siblings awake. Iaca awoke first, black and gray spots making her unlike others of her kind. Her brother, Erender, also having unusual patches of black and brown, grumbled at them both, and went back to sleep. Iaca soon ended that with a powerful jump onto his chest.

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" he growled.

His grinning sisters knew better, then to believe him, and they continued harassing him until emerald eyes opened slowly.

"Now what was so important you had to wake me up?"

"We're hungry," They chorused, "Let's go hunting."

"Member Jabella told us she wouldn't wake till spring, and she's certainly not up yet.," Iaca nodded towards the sleeping grizzly.

"Fine we'll go, but only cuz I'm," his stomach let out a grumble to emphasize his point, "hungry too."

The pups set off through the rocky woods, sticking to snow drifts, keeping their white coats from sticking out. Silently Erender flicked his tail towards, a rabbit munching clover shoots that were coming up. Iaca and Fenra, snaked closer. When they were in position, Erender rushed forward, scaring the rabbit right into Fenra's waiting jaws. With a snap, Fenra broke its neck. With a sickening yelp, Fenra fell, her body twitching.

"Fenra!" they cried.

Ariss:

The black pup awoke sleepily his white face and icy blue eyes, made for an interesting combination. Yawning, he got up, and padded outside. His mother and siblings lay asleep still. Gini, a dark gray form with even darker stripes, and blaze, stirred, and blinked sleepily. Her yellow eyes pierced the murky morning mist, as she stared at her brother. She was the only she-wolf of the litter.

"Where are you going Ariss?" she whispered.

"Go back to sleep, and don't wake Lua," he growled nodding to the gray pup that was identical to his sister, except for his white belly.

"Be careful," she whimpered to his disappearing paws. Sighing she nestled her nose back into her paws.

Ariss ran through the forest, stirring up flurries of powdery snow. He missed his brother. Galaed, the sikla of the group had been there one morning, and gone the next. He had asked Amber about it, but despite her protesting he could see the grief and horror in her eyes. He watched helplessly as her body grew gaunt, he knew she blamed herself for Galaed's probable death. His litter mates didn't remember him at all. Ariss sighed. Much as he tried, he couldn't find his brother anywhere. Gini was the worrier, and pessimistic one of the three, Lua was, confident, and excitable, and Ariss, well Ariss was the wonderer. He had to know why up was up, why the sky changed color, who his real parents were... He had suspected he was different then Amber, and nature seemed to confirm his suspicions as he grew taller, and longer then his foster mother. Something crackled in the brush behind him, and as he spun around to face it, his eyes grew wide.