36. The Courage of a True Wolf

**Day 612**

It had been nearly two weeks since Kala and Faolan departed from the Ĝarnaw, and Humphrey had spent much of that time worrying and hoping that they'd appear from the forest at any moment. His packmates tried to get his mind off her, but every time he looked down and saw Kate's bracelet, he was reminded of her. This was an all-too-often occurrence, and Humphrey would be dreary and sad throughout the day. Kacey was going through many different hormonal issues in the time of her pregnancy and began to pick up habits of insatiable cravings for more and more food as well as having nervous breakdowns, anxiety, and rapid mood swings.

Lily was shocked that she was not pregnant (for quite obvious reasons that included the entire pack giving her and Garth privacy of the entire cave several times) and consulted she-wolves amongst the Jagged Ice pack until she found someone that could explain to her what was wrong. She came back sobbing one day and shunned everyone that attempted to approach her for hours. Finally, she broke down and informed them that she was barren, unable to ever conceive and have pups of her own. Garth comforted her for a long time, Sweets and Kacey trying to as well. Sweets did not become pregnant either, but she and Salty had agreed not to do so until the next spring. When Kacey tried to talk to Lily, she snarled at Humphrey's mate and told her to back off. They could all understand her hostility towards Kacey; she had become pregnant, yet Lily was cursed with barrenness. Still, it hurt Kacey that the she-wolf she'd befriended in their journey was now so hostile towards her.

One day, Humphrey and Kacey sat outside and let the cool wind of the early spring moons flow around them. They began to get into the discussion of what they wanted to name the pups; then, they began brainstorming several names that they felt would be suitable for their offspring. Humphrey thought back to when he and Kate had crossed this topic and already knew two names for male pups that they could have: Ryker and Aatu. Kacey wanted the females to be Kristin and Hannah. He told her that Kala wanted to take part in the naming as well, and Kacey's tail wagged with happiness, ecstatic to hear her ideas for the pup's names.

Unfortunately, Kala's journey could take up to three moons. Kacey would give birth within a moon and a half. If that was so, Humphrey would make sure that one of them was not named until she returned; she was his daughter, and he wasn't going to break a promise to her or to Kacey, and she deserved to be able to name one of the new pups. Kacey agreed and the two returned to the cave to find Garth trying to entertain Lily by making his possum impression again. Unfortunately, Garth was not an Omega; he was about as clueless as an autistic squirrel when it came to helping his mate feel better.

Humphrey told Garth this and the red-furred wolf narrowed his eyes at Humphrey. He walked up to Garth and whispered something in his ear, but Garth reeled back and said, "No! No way! There's no way in the name of Fenrir that I would ever even consider doing something like that!" Humphrey reminded him of what was at stake and Garth sighed as he and Humphrey went to the Shaman. Humphrey's plan required his paint-lots and lots of paint. They returned and Lily's violet eyes widened when she saw what Humphrey did to Garth.

The red-furred Alpha's face was painted white with bright blue circles around his eyes and his nose was painted bright red. He looked absolutely miserable to have such a ludicrous appearance, but Humphrey elbowed him and Garth snapped back to reality, knowing that this was to help his mate despite the embarrassment that would surely ensue. He stood on his forepaws and began to juggle rocks with his hind paws, Humphrey pulling his lips to the sides in the appearance of wide grin. Garth glared at him from the corners of his eyes with a look that clearly said, 'No you're pushing it, Humphrey.'

He stuck out his tongue and let his tail hang down over his face. Lily's face contorted as she tried to hold back her laughter. The others were chuckling, the she-wolves giggling at his ludicrous appearance. When Lily stubbornly refused to laugh, Humphrey kicked Garth in the groin, making him squeal. Humphrey stopped pulling back his lips and he snarled at him.

"What was that for?" Garth shrieked. His voice was incredibly high pitched now, causing all the wolves to burst out laughing. Lily, unable to take it anymore, rolled on her back in a tight fit of uncontrollable laughter. Garth lost his footing and fell on his back with a hard thud. Lily saw this and she began to laugh harder, tears coming to her eyes as she did so. Humphrey grinned triumphantly, happy to see that his Omega personality was still retained and fully able to be uncovered from the depths of his mind.

Garth growled and punched Humphrey in the shoulder, but when he saw that he'd managed to help him successfully cheer up his mate, he apologized to Humphrey and thanked him. His voice, however, was still very much high pitched.

"No problem," Humphrey replied with a grin. "Now, who am I addressing: Garth the moose or Garth the squirrel?" The wolves began to laugh hard once again, their laughter echoing in the den and reaching the Ĝarnaw outside. Garth narrowed his eyes at the Omega but gave a smile nevertheless. He coughed several times and hit himself in the chest, his voice finally returning to its regular pitch.

"Humphrey," Salty called. "Me and Sweets found something you should find interesting."

"What is it?" He asked. Sweets came forward shyly and responded.

"A perfect place to log sled," she replied. Humphrey's eyes brightened and his tail began to wag. He looked at Kacey and she smiled as well, Lily looking happy about it, too.

"Well, what are we all standing here for?" Humphrey asked, grinning. "Let's go!"

Little Moon Mountain

"You know, I'm starting to second guess this," Kacey said nervously. They had found a sizeable log sled and now the wolves were scaling the snowy slope. Humphrey, Kacey, Salty, Sweets, Garth, Lily, and even Scourge (of whom needed to be forced to come along with them) were trekking upward. Garth, Humphrey, Salty, and Scourge dragged the log sled upward, the she-wolves walking behind them. Lily and Sweets even seemed to be having second thoughts as to log sledding down the mountain.

It was, as Sweets said, the perfect place to log sled. It was also, however, one of the most singularly precarious downward inclines that any of them had every laid eyes on. Sheer, rocky cliffs and sporadically dilapidated boulders lay scattered about the mountain, meaning that they would be forced to make spilt-second decisions of how to turn or they'd crash and possibly become seriously injured in the process of riding down the slope.

Kacey voiced her concerns of this being a bad idea, but Humphrey turned back to her with an amused smile and said, "Stick around for a while; we're full of bad ideas!" They finally reached the point of the mountain that they felt would be a suitable launch position and placed the log on the ground, loading inside. Scourge tried to back out of it, but they grabbed him and forced him down into the sled. Humphrey and Salty began to kick off and they all looked over the edge and down towards the base of the mountain. Some of them whimpered and tried to back out like Scourge, but it was too late; they had begun their descent and immediately crashed into the snow.

They flew ahead at incredible speeds, narrowly dodging the rocks and crevices by a hair's breadth. They whooped and hollered into the air as they flew downward, using inclined rocks and natural snow hills as jumps. On one such occasion, they pulled off a full back flip in the air before slamming to the ground and continuing their ride.

The snow flew around them, flung upward by their wake until they reached the lower half of the mountain where the snow gave way to stone as the summer proved to be ever dominant. They made a critical error in their trajectory on a final jump, however, and spun out of control. The sled broke apart and threw them about the mountain. None of them, however, were terribly injured when they hit the ground. Humphrey, however, landed on his belly, Kacey landing on top of him, slamming him to the rocky earth. He groaned in pain and she got off of him, allowing him to stand back up.

Scourge padded up to them, a scowl on his face as he returned to the group.

"That's what you do for fun?" He snarled. They looked at him shamefully, wishing they hadn't made Scourge come along. Humphrey, however, grinned and nodded. Scourge grunted. "Where did you find that log, because we're going to need a better one for the second go."

Kala 24 Days Later (Day 636)

Kala's guard hairs stood on end, her ears flicked back, her claws unsheathed, and she barred her fangs, Faolan doing the same as the prowling Kodiak bear neared them. For thirty-seven days, they had been wandering around trying, to figure out where and how Kala would find her True Name. This led to an entire day of planning as the two attempted to decipher some part of her that would allow them to figure out where to go. As Wolf of the Stars, she was unfortunately unable to figure out a plausible theory as to how they'd do so. Faolan's had been fairly easy as he'd gone to any body of water he could find and eventually discovered his name within a matter of three weeks. This, however, was proving to not be the case with Kala.

They couldn't travel to a star, so they tried to howl to them. When that proved fruitless, they tried howling to the sun, as it, too, was a star. Again, they were met with no success. They began to think of more unconventional ways to proceed with finding her name, like activities she enjoyed, aspects of her personality, and wolves that she'd known or currently knew to try and figure out some kind of way to decipher just how they'd go forth with finding her True Name. They had tried for days on end, running from location to location to try and find some way to discover the name, but nothing significant came to her mind.

Finally, Faolan broached the subject of returning to her birthplace, an ideal she refused to take part of. She told him that it took the pack her entire lifespan to travel from Jasper to the Jagged Ice Pack, but Faolan pointed out that they'd made many prolonged stops on that journey and didn't cut directly through the mountains like they could have. He knew how to get there safely and reach Jasper within no more than one week if she so chose. She growled at him then, refusing to return to her homeland.

So, they continued on, aimlessly traveling about the mountains in an attempt to discover her True Name. Along the way, however, they began to get to know one another far better, and Kala felt as though she'd known the young blue-grey wolf her entire life. They had, admittedly, become close friends during their journey. Kala scolded herself often when she caught herself being too friendly (or friendly at all for that matter) to him. She had taken Faolan with him for two sole reasons: he'd already completed the Trials and he knew how they worked, and he knew the mountains whereas they were still utterly foreign to her. She wasn't supposed to be taking a liking to him, yet she couldn't help herself from feeling some kind of pull towards the wolf.

Four sunrises prior, Faolan had told her of an old being in the inner mountains from which the Shaman (who she learned with shock was well over six hundred years of age) had been taught. If anyone could tell her how to find her True Name, it was he. So, they began to journey into the heart of the mountains, searching for the being known as the Prophet. This led to their journey into the stone cliff region where they now stood, face to face with a Kodiak bear that was content with not allowing them passage forward. The only things behind them were more precarious cliffs and ledges. To the left was a rock wall of the mountain, to the right, a steep cliff that meant certain death if they fell down, meaning that their only course of action was to somehow pass the Kodiak or fight him off.

"If we attack together," Faolan hissed. "It'll be confused and won't know which one of us to hit."

"Or we can do it my way," Kala growled. "And get this thing out of my way!" She leapt forward and scratched its large muzzle, raking her claws through it. It roared and batted her away, sending her flying into the mountain. She groaned as Faolan tried to help her back up.

"Your way is arrogant and will get you killed!" Faolan snarled. The bear began to charge at them, the two dodging its massive paws as it tried to crush them once more.

"I don't need your help!" She yelled at him.

"Fine!" He growled. "Get yourself killed!" With that, he darted to the side, waiting for her to join him. She snarled and attacked the bear, once again getting hit to the side. She crashed to the side, but quickly pulled herself back up. She looked at the bear…and froze. The bear's eyes turned a deep yellow, Kala's eyes doing the same. Faolan barked at her, but she did not respond to his distressed cries. There was a voice speaking to her, images and symbols flashing through her mind. Hideous monsters snarled and screamed at her, surrounding the object of divinity residing in the depths of the Jagged Ice Mountain.

"All is not what it seems," Kate whispered to her. "They will make us whole, Kala. They will help us transcend. They will make us whole." Kala began to murmur the words her mother whispered to her, dazed and in an unshakeable trance. Faolan looked at her, incredulous and unable to understand what she was doing. From his perspective, she didn't appear to be in control of her actions anymore.

The bear snarled and struck her with his large paw, sending her over the edge of the cliff. She snapped back to reality and dug her claws into the rock, scrambling to try and pull herself back up. The bear glared down at her and snarled, ready to send her over the edge. She lowered her head and closed her eyes in preparation for the final, killing blow. Faolan, however, leapt at the bear and sank his fangs into the back of its neck.

It growled and focused its attention on Faolan as Kala tried to pull herself back up. The bear crashed into the rock wall, Faolan leaping off and running to Kala. He lowered himself down and grabbed her scruff, pulling her back up. Her claws scraped the surface of the rock as she climbed and finally, the two collapsed on the rock ledge. They looked back at the wall, ready to confront the bear, but it was gone. There wasn't even a scent remaining that gave it away; it was as though it was never there at all.

Dusk

They had walked from the cliffs and found a sizeable cave to camp out in before dawn. Not for the first time, they were forced to go a night without food. Malnutrition had begun to affect their physical appearances and capabilities to perform straining activities. They're fur and begun hang lightly from their bodies and even their ribs were beginning to faintly show through. Sometimes, it was difficult for them to find water during the night, sparingly taking drinks when they were traveling through the forest.

On one occasion of trying to find water, however, they had unintentionally awoken a nest of Night Watchers, forced to flee back to the safety of the mountains. When the Night Watchers left the shadows of the forest, the sun burnt their bodies and corroded their grey, dead skin, the hideous monstrosities dying on the rocks.

Kala sulked to the back of the cave and lied on the ground, regretting her decision to follow through with the Trials. They had been gone over a moon; her parents must have surely worried themselves incessantly over her absence as well as the rest of the pack. What kind of a dumb task was this, anyway? Finding her 'True Name?' What was that supposed to mean in the first place? If this was what it took to become Full Wolf, Kala would rather be a different species! How could she even begin to know what finding her True Name was supposed to mean? All she knew was that this was the most difficult thing she'd ever done.

Her worrying for the wellbeing of her parents did not help matters in the slightest. Kacey would be giving birth to the pups within less than a full moon at this point, and she was quite positive that worrying over her wouldn't be good for the pups. She had even requested to name one of them; how would she do that if she were spending the next two moons trying to find a stupid name? Regrettably, she knew that it was futile to even so much as hope for the ability to see the pups when they were born, accepting the all-too-real possibility that she'd never even get the chance to see them at all.

Whatever the possibilities, she knew that they had to find the Prophet or be condemned to the inability to see her family again. Faolan lied down to rest as the night wore on, Kala watching him. He had saved her life earlier that day; the least she could do was thank the poor wolf. She padded up to him and nudged him awake. He blinked his eyes and looked up at her.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "For earlier," He nodded.

"You're welcome," he replied, and then lied his head back down. A cool breeze went through the cave, chilling them to the bone. Kala curled up in a ball next to him, the two falling asleep together in the night. Unbeknownst to the other, both were smiling the whole time.

**Day 637**

Kala followed in step behind Faolan as he led the way through the mountains. Several times, they were forced to backtrack and find a new route due to erosion affecting the terrain in front of them or some predator blocking their path again. On multiple occasions, Kala questioned Faolan's ability to find the Prophet, but he consistently told her that he knew where he was going. Without anyone else to help her on her journey and knowing that the Prophet was her last shot to find out her True Name, she shut up and followed him.

Finally, they arrived on a bowl-shaped mountain formation that was similar to the mountains that Humphrey and Kacey had encountered the D'Tyoni in. The valley within was covered with leagues of sand, long-buried stone structures of human creation (or possibly whatever made the object of divinity) lay scattered below. They bounded down the mountainside and entered the sand, their paws sinking into it. This was not like the sand of the dunes and beaches near the ocean, but searing hot on their pads and very coarse.

The sun bore down on them with incredible heat. The spring was giving way to summer, and the rising heat meant that their winter coats would no longer be needed. Unfortunately, there was nowhere that they could try to rub off the excess fur, meaning that they'd have to bear through it. They began to pant heavily as they neared the center of the dunes, Kala rasping. Dehydration had struck her hard and she was quickly losing her hold on reality. She swayed to the sides in dizziness, her vision brightening, darkening, and colors distorting around her. Faolan noticed her state and shook her, trying to keep her from losing consciousness. The last thing they needed was for one of them to fall in the blistering heat of the miniature desert. She began muttering gibberish under her breath, Faolan becoming worried for her health as they trekked on.

They reached the top of a large dune and looked down, the large stone gateway to the Prophet's lair open. Kala swayed once more and her vision blurred. She couldn't take it anymore and her legs gave out underneath her. She collapsed, falling down the large dune. Faolan called out her name in panic and rushed down to her. She tumbled through the sand and landed heavily at the bottom of the dune. Faolan leapt after her and slid down to the bottom. He shook her, but she refused to wake up. He grabbed her scruff and pulled her into the cool shade of the stone temple within the desert.

He frantically searched for some source of water, trying to bring Kala something to drink. He scented the air and caught the distance scent of fresh water. He crawled underneath Kala, her body draped over his back. He hoisted her up and then rushed through the stone halls, underneath arched doorways and through dark tunnels until he found a large pool of fresh water resting peacefully within the temple.

He settled Kala down into the water and splashed her face with water. He opened her mouth and forced her to drink. Her eyes scrunched and she began to cough. She stood up and blindly stumbled into the water. She shot up, gasping for air, her eyes wide. She looked about, trying to figure out where she was. Faolan cleared his throat and she turned to him, giving him a questioning stare. He explained what had transpired and she breathed a heavy sigh.

"Well," she said with a small smile. "I guess I owe you for saving my life twice now."

"Don't mention it," he said with a wry grin. He padded up to her and helped her out of the water. She gratefully accepted his help and then the two looked about the old stone ruins, light streaming from holes and gaps in the roof above.

"So now what?" She asked him.

"This is supposed to be a human kind of thing," he informed her. "It's ancient; thousands of years old. I've heard stories from the Shaman about the Prophet. This is supposedly the place the Prophet is supposed to be."

"How do we find him?"

"To be honest," he replied nervously. "I'm not really sure. He didn't tell me that much."

"If you don't mind my asking," she said. "Why do you spend so much time with the Shaman?"

"He spends so much time with him because Faolan is to be the next Shaman," a voice growled from the shadows. They looked in the direction of the voice and stared into the darkness. A pale, furless, hideous monstrosity appeared. It was the corpse-like form of an Ancient; he was not just any wolf. He was a Dire Wolf. He was massive, nearly twice the size of an average, full grown wolf. Its muzzle was slightly shorter than normal and had a large, rigid jawline. Scars across his pale, fleshy body resembled the makings and hieroglyphics on etched into the object of divinity. His ears were cut in several places, his left ear torn completely in half. A rat-like tail dragged behind him, long claws jutting from truly massive paws. Two fangs on the top and bottom of its mouth jutted out from its lips, and two stark white, bulbous eyes glared at them through the dark.

A necklace hung around him, the long, poisonous fang of some kind of massive snake hung from the end of it. It padded up to them, Kala and Faolan sinking to their bellies, bowing their heads in the presence of the Prophet. He looked down at them and smirked. He walked away and allowed himself a drink from the pool of water. The two looked up and slowly got to their paws, watching him. He was missing many of the fangs in his mouth and they noticed that there were holes in his tongue. He growled at them.

"What are you looking at?" He grunted. They were shocked that he knew they were looking at him; white eyes meant that he was blinded, yet he knew they were looking in his direction? "Don't be fooled, pups. Just because I am over seven hundred thousand years old and blind doesn't mean that I'm an idiot." Kala looked at Faolan and he shrugged. They returned their attention to the wolf.

"You might as well know that I'm a Dire Wolf you mongrel pups," he growled at them. They looked at each other in shock; was he reading their thoughts? "Of course, I am you imbeciles; if you wouldn't keep your minds open like idiots then I would have a bit more trouble figuring out what you're thinking."

"If you can read our minds," Kala said cautiously. "Then I take it that you're the Prophet?" He scoffed, releasing a hacking cough of a laugh. It was sickening and ear-splitting, the two lowering their heads and gritting their fangs until he had finished with the demonic laughter.

"Prophet," he spat. "It is such a crude, inferior term that your pathetic race had christened me."

"You're part of our species, too," Faolan pointed out.

"No, I am not," he growled, turning around. "I am Dire Wolf, I am True Wolf, that of which you aspire to become through the accomplishment of near-meaningless achievements that we thought of as trite and irrevocably worthless in comparison to what we were forced to do in our time. Your journey is to prove yourself worthy of an attempt at a True Wolf, one that I have allowed non-True Wolves to do to prove their worth."

"Okay," Faolan said. "So, we're not technically True Wolf despite our shared blood; fair enough. That isn't, however, the reason we came here, Prophet-"

"Enough with that foolhardy, pitiful excuse of a name!" He snarled at them. "You will address me by my True Name, Fenrir." Their eyes widened in shock when he revealed his True Name. No, that couldn't be! Fenrir was the name of the good, kindly god of the wolves of whom ruled peacefully with his beautiful mate, Fenrisúlfur! How could this repulsive, deformed, shadow of a wolf ever possibly be the god of the wolves?

"That's a lie," Faolan growled. "All wolves are taught of Fenrir and his mate that rule above in the stars high. You can't be Fenrir; you're an imposter!"

"Foolish, runt," he spat. "I am the Wolf God of War, an abomination in the eyes of Fenrisúlfur. I am the drive for wolves to fight, the anger that festers inside of you, the hatred that poisons you, and I am the lust and vengeance that you harbor deep within your hearts. I am no god of the wolves, nor is Fenrisúlfur; she is the Wolf Goddess of the world around us, and she will greet all good wolves when their time has come. Lupus and Lupa are the Wolf Gods; your packs have obviously been corrupted with false knowledge and tainted information."

He turned and walked back into the shadows. Kala, however, felt fury burning within her and she stalked after him despite Faolan's protests. She followed his rotting, rancid stench of a scent through the dark and called after him. She'd come too far to just give up now, and she wasn't going to let some stupid, wrecked, sole survivor of a long-extinct species leave her in the dark as to what she was supposed to do. She needed to get a straight answer from him, and she needed it now! It would be less than three weeks before Kacey gave birth to her pups, and she was determined to discover her True Name before-paw so she could be there with her parents to see them born.

"Hey, shit head!" She snarled at him. Fenrir halted, his white eyes glaring at her.

"Watch your tongue, bitch-wolf," he growled.

"How about you prove your worth as the last of your kind and face me like a True Wolf!" He whirled around and snarled at her, his face moving up to hers. Faolan looked at them, shocked that Kala would speak out against the God of War; the things he could do to her were unspeakable, unprecedented, and absolutely terrible. Kala, however, showed no fear in the face of death itself. She glared at him with an intensity that was unparalled by the greatest of foes, a heart of courage building itself up within her. Faolan admired her for that.

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner!" He roared. "You are a worthless excuse of a wolf; you are nothing but an incompetent mutt, a whorish mate for that lustful male mutt back there!" Kala snarled at him, unsheathing her claws.

"He is not my mate," she growled defiantly. "And I am nobody's whore. I am Kala, Wolf of the Stars, proud daughter of Kate and Humphrey of Jasper Park. I am a grey she-wolf and I wish to fulfill my personal goals to find my True Name and become Full Wolf, and I will not let a horrible, disgraceful excuse for one of the revered Ancients derive me from my task!"

The interior of the ancient structure was silent for a long while as the three stood there, rigid. Fenrir's eyes were wide and his jaw was slightly agape in shock from the ferocity and bravery displayed by the young she-wolf. Such courage in the heart of a living being was difficult to find in the dark days of the present, and Fenrir felt as though he'd finally found the wolf that he'd been searching for, the wolf that would truly define the meaning of wolf. He backed away and looked at her with his unseeing eyes.

"You will find your True Name in the place known sacred to your mother and father," he said. "Not your stepmother, but your blood mother. There, and only there, will you discover the identity of your True Name; you may take the valley pass through the mountains and be free of these damned lands within five days. No creature will attempt to harm you until you return to your pack's Ĝarnaw. I will be waiting for your return when you discover your name. That is all that I can tell you, Young Grey." Kala nodded and turned around, walking away. Faolan watched the two, stunned, but fell into step beside Kala. As they left, Fenrir whispered his hopeful condolences. "Good luck, Young Grey."

**A/N: Well, there's a nice long chapter for all of you! Sorry I didn't update for two freaking days! I know, I can't believe I took that damn long! I've just been so caught up in school work and spending time with my friends and my girlfriend that I've completely lost track of the time going by! This will be the last time this happens without warning, I can guarantee you all that!**

**Thanks to Dawn Walker Wolf, imjustlikehumphrey, The-crazy-lone-wolf77, MoonTrekerAF, the dark shadow, LilyandMe, and Alexander for reviewing my last chapters! Until next time!**

**-The Dishonored Wolf**