37. Name in the Scorched Earth

**Day 642**

Kacey's pregnancy had begun to show far clearer than ever before, her belly large and swollen and fatigue wearing on her each day that passed. Her eating habits had risen and fallen several times, her anger management issues sparked by the pregnancy only growing worse. Humphrey became worried for her as the pregnancy went on, and he began to have horrid, terrifying nightmares that plagued him every day. They foretold the death of Kacey when she gave birth, and they foretold Humphrey killing her just like he had to kill Kate. He'd wake up in a cold sweat in the dead of night and look to his mate, making sure that she was alright.

Scourge began somewhat of a therapy consultant for Humphrey during these dark days. Ever since they'd arrived in the mountains, Humphrey's nightmares had grown steadily worse, each one boding a horrible premonition of the future in some kind of twisted way. He was terrified beyond belief that he'd be caught in the darkness of his nightmares, that they'd come true like the first time he'd had them. Scourge tried to sort through his nightmares and help him make sense of them, to see if there was some kind of hidden message embedded within them.

Unfortunately, Sam did not seem keen on helping them, either. Every time they tried to talk with him, his messages were vague, distorted, as though he was no longer capable of communicating with them efficiently anymore. It didn't seem like he was blatantly ignoring them; he had, on many occasions, tried to speak with them, but it was almost as if he was unable to talk, as though there was something wrong with him. His apparition was faded, only half-existent in reality and in the world of their dreams. He always said something to them along the lines of a warning, but he was never able to tell them of what he was warning them of. All they ever got was an ominous message from him speaking of something that they knew nothing of. Still, they remained ever wary of his messages despite not knowing what he was talking about. The two were incredibly vigilant in their attempt to protect the wolves of their pack.

Saren, however, assured them that there was no danger to be wary of, and that the Ĝarnaw and the territory beyond the Shaman's borderlines were perfectly safe and secure. Nothing could get through the Shaman's borderline trails unless he permitted it, and humans would see the mountains as precarious, deadly places that would be inhospitable to their species. Humphrey did not fully believe this, however, due to the sighting of the human within the territory. Still, Saren insisted that nothing could endanger them while they stayed with the Jagged Ice pack, and he left them with an eerie verse that they did not fully understand, telling them that 'Transcendence will arrive soon, and we will all be safe and free in a beautiful world of prosperity and peace.' Dismissing his odd phrases that they didn't understand-nor did they have any drive to even make the attempt-they continued to stay on the watch and hope that Sam would deliver them a straightforward, understandable message soon.

Humphrey's worrying for Kala only worsened with these ominous warnings from Sam. He hadn't heard nor seen her in over a moon and a half, almost the full length of Kacey's pregnancy. Even her scent had disappeared completely; the only thing he had left to remember of her was the tail fur she'd plucked out and intertwined with his bracelet. He felt empty inside without his daughter's presence nearby; she was the only attachment to Kate that he had left. If he lost Kala, he didn't know what he'd do. Kate's death had already nearly killed what was left of his former self. Though his sense of humor would occasionally resurface, such as when he and Garth tried to cheer up Lily, he was a very different wolf than what he used to be. If anything ever happened to Kacey, their unborn pups, and especially his daughter, Humphrey knew that what he'd become would be a fate worse than death itself.

Against his feelings, he pressed down his emotions of worry and concern for his daughter and did his best to help care for his mate as she dealt with the mental and physical strain of her pregnancy. When she'd first felt the pups kick, she was as energetic as the most rambunctious of pups. Every time she felt the pups kick, she'd sit down and have Humphrey feel her belly with her and the two would happily pat them through the womb, letting them know that their mother and father were there, waiting for them to come out and meet their family.

This did, however, begin to annoy Humphrey when she quite literally forced him to feel her womb every time she felt a kick. He hid his annoyance perfectly after it got old, giving her the illusion that he was still incredibly interested in the subject of feeling the pups kick every single time that they made the slightest movement inside of her. Nevertheless, he was amused by her excitement and was just as happy that she was going to have pups as she was. In a way to make Lily feel better and because they'd grown into close friends over the near two years that she'd been with the pack, Kacey asked Lily if she'd do the honors of being the godmother of the pups, an offer that Lily accepted ecstatically and without a heartbeat's hesitation, the two she-wolves giddy with excitement, the rest of the pack looking at them with wry smiles. Humphrey had looked about the wolves then and noticed that Firetail was not amongst them.

In fact, the brown wolf had been absent from the den most of the days and nights, rarely showing himself. There was something different about the young wolf, and Humphrey couldn't place his paw on just what that was.

Firetail had always distanced himself from the pack, wishing to be more of a solitary individual than be part of the tight-knit group that made up the survivors of Jasper, and that had only deepened after the dominance battle. Humphrey had seen him running away with tears in his eyes that night. He'd lost to Kala, the she-wolf that he'd rivaled with since she was old enough to talk. His resentment towards her was sure to have only deepened when she won the dominance battle, and he seemed to have a newfound hatred towards Lily and Garth for congratulating her, despite the fact that she was their biological niece.

He let his fur lie down over his face most of the time, even covering his eyes. He snarled at Lily when she tried to clear the fur from his face and stalked away. Humphrey didn't understand why he did this, nor did he understand many things about the young wolf. He was perplexing, yet at time proved that he could be a potential threat to the wellbeing of the pack, and Humphrey could simply not allow him to jeopardize the safety of his wolves. Despite that they'd joined the Jagged Ice pack, they still looked up to Humphrey for leadership and guidance.

Narami had visited them on many occasions, Humphrey allowing her to lead him around the Ĝarnaw and the territory so he could begin to remember things that were previously long forgotten in the recesses of his mind. As part of the pack, he was allowed to renew his Spirit Markings: he received a thin line below his eyes, a vertical line jutting down from that line. On his forehead was a downward-pointed arrow, his ears pointed with upward-pointed arrows, all of markings painted in bone white.

As she showed him more and more landmarks and locations, his memory began to slowly and steadily return, the familiarity realized as full memory rather than an odd sense of déjà vu. One day, he asked her to describe their parents to him.

Their mother was a kindly, caring she-wolf with a large heart. She was a stark-white furred wolf with blue markings on her body, as she was the former Harko of the pack before Icerin. Their father was a gruff but affectionate and loving father with grey fur and blue eyes. She said that Humphrey looked exactly like their father when they'd left during the original attack on the Ĝarnaw years prior. How Humphrey had managed to forget all of this was unbeknownst to him and bewildered him, but Narami had presented a plausible theory as to his brainwash. If he'd been hit on the head sometime along the journey, the impact would have easily ruptured the tender, fragile cells of a pup's brain and caused memory loss. If that was not the case, then something must have happened to their father that was so incredibly traumatizing that his brain had attempted to wipe the memories out of his young mind as to protect him from serious mental health or emotional distress issues in the future.

It made sense to Humphrey that these could have happened; if he was only within two or three moons of age at the time, and then it made sense that these would cause his memory failures later on in life. He briefly wondered what Kate would have thought of all of this, especially to learn that her mate had finally found his home again. As they began to walk away from the forest, Humphrey could see the apparitions of his deceased mate, once more haunting him.

On one occasion, he was padding through the forest at night, hoping that Kala might return. She had been gone for so long and Faolan's presence with her didn't improve matters, his suspicions becoming stronger. He'd contemplated asking Marcel and Iris to try and find them, but remembered that he hadn't seen the two in moons. He never truly found out what happened to the two birds that night, but hoped that if they were still alive, they were safe somewhere and enjoying their lives. He pitied the two for the loss of Paddy. The caddy duck was Marcel's best friend and Iris' love interest, so when he died, a part of them was taken from their hearts and minds.

As he began to walk back, he saw the dark form of his mate standing in the moonlit forest. She was nothing but a silhouette, but still retained the physical shape of Kate. Suddenly, her neck and belly burst open and blood spilled to the ground below. Three dead pup corpses fell out, too, their shriveled, blood-stained bodies crying out in pain. Humphrey gritted his teeth and tears began to fall from his eyes as he watched them.

"Why did you kill me, Humphrey?" She asked. "Why did you make me die? We could have been whole, Humphrey; we could have been one, but you made me die. Why did you do it Humphrey? Why did you make me die?"

"Get out of my head!" He snarled as tears streaked his face. "Just get out of my fucking head!"

"Oh, but I love to be in your head, Humphrey," she said, padding up to him slowly. "I want the pain to fester within you, to poison your veins and pollute your mind. I want you to tell me why you made me die."

"Ask the fucking humans that question!" Humphrey growled. "You told me to do it! You told me to fucking do it!"

"But you didn't have to, Humphrey; we could have had more pups. We could have had the life you promised me with four beautiful pups unlike that hideous, mongrel scrap of fur that wants to call herself a wolf. You wouldn't be stuck with that slut of a she-wolf, Kacey, and we could both be happy. You told me you'd never break a promise you made to me and then you promised me that future. But you broke your promise, Humphrey. You broke your promise to me. Why did you make me die?

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He roared. "YOU AREN'T KATE!"

"Oh, really?" She growled at him, her crimson eyes glowering. "I will return soon enough, Humphrey, and I want you to tell me why you made me die and answer me one other question, or you will face the consequences of your negligence."

"What's the other question?" Humphrey growled. She padded up to him and screamed at him.

"WHO AM I, HUMPHREY?"

**Jasper Park, Canada**

As Fenrir had promised, Kala and Faolan had not encountered any opposition between the God of War's temple and the land beyond the mountains. Kala began to lead the way once they reached the place that she and Kacey had taken down the panther. Her pawsteps quickened from a run, to a trot, to a run, and then to an all-out sprint as she followed her heart to her home. They sprinted across the grass plains for countless hours, taking a drink at the place the pack had stopped at on their journey away from Jasper and towards the mountains.

Kala looked around and suddenly, the familiar area that she'd always known as the Small Grounds came into view. This was her home, the place that she'd lived at for the beginning of her life. A part of her heart would always remain here and know it as the first home she'd ever had. Suddenly, they heard a cry from above. They looked up to see two birds crash into Kala, one of them crying out a word: "MADEMOISELLE!"

She laughed uncontrollably as Marcel and Iris got off of her, ecstatic to finally see her friends for the first time in nearly two moons since they were brought to the Jagged Ice pack.

"Marcel, Iris!" Kala cried, embracing the two tightly in a large hug. Their eyes bulged from the force of her hug, but they accepted it nevertheless and were just as happy to see her. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys!"

"And we, you, Mademoiselle," Marcel replied with a wry smile. "Ever since those wolves came in and took you away, Iris and I have been on the run-err, flight. We didn't know where to look for you, and the creatures in those rotten mountains didn't help us out. And now we find you here with this-ah, well um…I don't recall this young wolf with you before."

"Marcel, Iris," she said happily. "This is my friend Faolan. Faolan, these are my friends Marcel and Iris."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Monsieur!" Marcel said, extending his wing to him. Faolan awkwardly shook the bird's wing, doing the same with Iris.

"Wait, so you don't eat these?" Faolan asked. Kala giggled in amusement as Marcel and Iris gave him aghast looks.

"Eat us?" Marcel cried out in disgust. "How dare you make such a ludicrous statement to a proud French-Canadian professional golfing champion!"

"If you try to eat us, mister grey and blue but irresistibly attractive," Iris said charmingly, Kala smiling at her. "I'll make sure that your eyes get shot out by humans just like mine!" Faolan gulped and nodded his head vigorously in understanding. Content, they returned their attention to Kala.

"So, missy star-wolf-daughter-of-mister-funny-and-misses-fast," Iris said quietly. "Is this blue and grey and grey and blue wolf the father of your puppy pups?" Kala reeled back in shock and disgust, Marcel whacking her in the back of the head with his wing.

"No, he's just here to help me get back to Jasper," Kala said sternly. Iris rubbed the back of her head and glared at Marcel.

"Speaking of which," Marcel said. "Where is the rest of your pack? Did they-?"

"No, they're fine," she said with a smile. "Although the creatures in the forest took all four of the eastern wolves; all that's left is me, Humphrey, Kacey, Garth, Lily, Scourge, Winston, Firetail, Salty, Sweets, and Kacey's unborn pups."

"She's having pups?" Iris exclaimed. Kala smiled and nodded.

"Well, your father seems to repopulate with a lot of attractive she-wolves, doesn't he?" Marcel said teasingly. "You might want to watch out that he doesn't try to make more little wolves with you!" Kala laughed at that and lightly punched Marcel in the chest. "All jokes aside, why are you heading back to Jasper? Don't you remember that it has been destroyed in the Great War?"

With that, Kala began to retell the story of all the events that transpired from the time of their separation to this point. They nodded in understanding when she told them just why she had come to Jasper and what finding her True Name would allow for her. Before they could ask, she also delved into an explanation as to the markings on her face and the markings all over Faolan's body and face, and she told them what it meant to be a Full Wolf by completing the sets of Trials set by the Ancient Wolf Gods, Lupus and Lupa.

They were surprised to hear her say those two names rather than Fenrir and Fenrisúlfur, so Kala explained to them just what they had learned from the ancient Dire Wolf in the small desert. Fenrisúlfur was the she-wolf goddess that guided wolves on quests such as this, hence the reason her mother always wished her to guide Kala, as Lupus and Lupa were simply the watchers and the rulers. Fenrisúlfur was the goddess spirit that helped wolves survive on journeys and watched over them kindly with a gentle heart. She was also known as the wolf goddess of love in some tongues.

Marcel and Iris agreed to assist Kala in her search for her True Name, understanding why she saw Jasper as the place Fenrir had talked about when trying to find her name. They already had many locations in mind that they knew of, one of them not even in Jasper Park, but on a human railroad further south where they'd first howled together.

They set off into the territory and Kala's eyes widened. Her mother had shown her what Jasper Park looked like in a dream, but to see the devastation of the land before her was horrible. Three massive gouges in the earth had torn the land apart, all of the plant life burnt and hidden in a layer of solidified ash. They walked down, solemn as they looked about at what had formerly been the home of the Jasper wolves. Kala looked around and saw a hill back where they'd come, the shape of a wolf's corpse barely visible lying on the side of it. Her heart stopped and her blood ran cold as she realized who that wolf was: Kate. Marcel and Iris ushered her away from the sight and back to the task at paw.

Human vehicles and weapons lay scattered about, most of them destroyed, others left abandoned. Large craters in the ground signaled where the projectile missiles, mortars, and heavy artillery rounds and obliterated the land. The skeletal remains of human bodies lay scattered about as well, a large pile of dead caribou corpses lay scattered in the rear of the valley, the flesh and fur of the caribou torn and revealing the bones and hollow body within. There was a dark, eerie silence as they walked to the center of the valley. They stopped and Marcel and Iris explained that this was the place that Humphrey and Kate had first declared their unconditional love for one another. She nodded and looked about the area, searching for some kind of sign or feeling that she would find her True Name.

There was nothing here. She walked back, sighing in defeat as they led the two wolves around the gouged earth and up a large hill and past a dried riverbed that Marcel and Iris had explained used to be a running river that her parents would visit periodically; now, it was a dead, snaking bed of sand. They walked through the tall grass and came across churned earth and blood stains. Again, they explained that her father had killed a Mad Wolf here, but had lost his best friend, Shakey, in the process on that horrid, fateful night. Guessing that this wasn't a place sacred to her parents, they moved on and came across their den. Kala tentatively walked into it and sniffed about. The scent inside was incredibly stale and tainted with the scent of fire, but there was the unmistakable scent of her father that still lingered, as well as a sweet, beautiful scent that could have only been her mother. She lied down and closed her eyes, she looked about the den, and she tried every possible thing she could think of to figure out a sign that would lead her to how she'd find her True Name. Surely this was a sacred place to her parents? Alas, she found no evidence that this was the place Fenrir had suggested, nor did she find anything that would point her towards her True Name.

Marcel and Iris suggested the place they first howled and she agreed to go searching there. They followed the old train tracks for leagues from dawn to the midafternoon. They came across a stretch of land surrounded by two lakes from where Marcel said that they'd first howled. If anything, this was surely to be the place they held most sacred! There was nothing. Kala snarled in exasperation and stalked back to the park. Faolan, Marcel, and Iris tried to follow her around when they returned, but Kala told them to stay at the remains of the Pack Den while she looked around for herself. She walked through the dead trees at random, seeking something-anything-that would tell her what her True Name was.

Eventually, she stopped in a small clearing that, for some odd reason, looked oddly familiar. She looked around and found a patch of dead, blackened flowers that had been badly destroyed and mutilated from the harmful effects of the changing seasons, the fire, and the ash. Beside them was an odd depression in the ground. Kala curiously brushed away the ash with her tail and inspected the ground beside them to find two images scrawled into the dirt by way of claw. The first was an image that looked precisely like her mother, the second looking just like her father. That's when it hit her: this was the clearing that her parents had first met at, the place they'd first mated, and the place that she knew was what they held dearest to them.

She sat down and closed her eyes, reaching out her mind and heart into the area around her. She opened her eyes and the world had changed; the forest was back to its normal appearance before it had been destroyed, and Kate and Humphrey sat together silently in the clearing. Her mother's womb was large as she still carried the pups; this was the final time they knew peace with one another; this was the night of the Great War.

Kate looked at the ground in misery, Humphrey sitting beside her, their fur tugged against each other from the force of the wind. Kate pulled something out of her fur and looked at Humphrey. It was a reed loop with three purple flower petals intertwined in them. She wrapped the small loop around Humphrey's right paw and looked at him.

"I made it for you," she said. She looked away, somewhat embarrassed. "I know it seems odd and isn't all that great, but I thought you might like it…I don't know, Alphas never really did much in terms of fun or arts and crafts as much as Omegas did, so I know I didn't do a very good job on it and-"

Humphrey silenced her by rubbing his nose gently against hers. He licked her face and gave her his appreciation.

"I love it, Kate," he told her with a smile (Kala's eyes widened in shock; her birthday was not only the same day as her mother's, but the same day that Jasper was destroyed and the same day that her mother had been killed!). She flashed him a weak smile and they sat together for a while. "Happy third birthday, Kate," She nodded in thanks and they sat together, sharing their love for one another. Humphrey looked down at the odd loop she'd given him wrapped around his paw, admiring the natural look to the odd contraption. It scented of her, the flower petals embedded inside from Kate's favorite flower.

He glanced over to where they grew but saw the patch dead and grey. The flowers were shriveled and decayed, stiff and cracking in the wind. He took condolence in the fact that there would be more another day. It didn't matter how many flowers survived; life would always resume in one way or another. At that moment, Humphrey had absolutely no intentions to leave Jasper. The humans would leave, he was sure, and there was no doubt about it. Scourge was wrong in leaving; the humans weren't going to destroy anything.

Nothing would happen, and nothing would separate him and Kate. Kate grunted for a moment, drawing his attention. He looked at her in worry, seeing her clutching her belly. He gave her a questioning look and she smiled in reassurance.

"It's that one pup," she told him. "The she-pup that has that really strong kick," He grinned and felt her belly, the small yet forceful kick of the pup hitting against her womb. He nuzzled her belly again and the pup-as it had always done when he nuzzled her womb-ceased to kick so fiercely. Kate and Humphrey smiled at each other. "I think she likes you." Kate said. Humphrey smiled wryly at her.

"What makes you so sure it's a she-pup?" He asked with a grin. "It might be a strong male that'll grow up to be an Alpha."

"Or," Kate pointed out with an equally large grin. "It could be a fun-loving she-pup that'll grow up to be our proud little Omega."

"You still didn't answer my question, though," Humphrey said. "How do you know it's a she-pup?"

"My motherly intuition," Kate said, winking at him. Humphrey began to laugh, Kate joining in. This was how life should always be; Kate and Humphrey were meant to be together, no doubt, and it was how Humphrey intended on keeping it. Kate's nose rubbed against his scars and she frowned. "Sorry about doing that to you."

"It's alright," he said with a laugh. "Hey, how about I tell the pups I was in a huge war and came back to save you, earning these scars in battle?" She giggled at the ridiculous prospect of telling the pups that fantasy.

"Not much of a fight," she said. "Besides, I'd be saving you more likely."

"Hey, I thought we were equal in that respect!" Humphrey protested.

"No," she said, nuzzling him. "You saved me more times than I saved you."

"Well, you did save me in one big way."

"What way is that?"

"You saved me from a life without you," he whispered to her. She smiled and dug her face into his fur, happy to be with him. Eve and three other wolves may have died, but Humphrey still managed to make her happy nevertheless. That was what she loved about her mate: he cared for her and still was able to make her smile, something that Humphrey, quite frankly, prided himself in doing. Every day that Kate was happy, Humphrey knew he was doing his job.

She blinked and the apparition had disappeared, the world returning to its destroyed state. Tears fell down her face as she looked about. She looked down at the flowers. One of her tears fell from her face and landed on one. The dead flower began to go through on odd change, re-inflating itself from its burnt form, color returning to it. The stem began to turn a jade green like Faolan's eyes, the petals turning to a bright violet and blooming outward; it was Kate's favorite flower. That's when it came into her mind.

Kala gasped, releasing a choked sob as her True Name revealed itself to her. It was not something that was able to be pronounced in any tongue, known or unknown. It wasn't even truly a name like Kala was for her, but a sense of pure identity. She cried in happiness as she relished in the beauty and horror of her True Name, her heart feeling full once more. She plucked the flower from the ground and placed it in her fur behind her right ear and she returned to her three companions with a sad smile and tears running down her face. Faolan grinned, knowing that she'd discovered her True Name.

This took some explaining to Marcel and Iris, both of whom were concerned that Kala had been hurt or went to look at Kate's body, but when they were assured that Kala had truly found her name, the four began the long journey home. It would be at least two more weeks before they reached the Ĝarnaw, but Kala knew that they would make it. They would have to stop at Fenrir's temple as well as he'd requested, and Kala was content with doing so. As they walked ahead, Kala smiled murmured under her breath her True Name. Although not translatable in spoken language, Kala knew that it was the tongue of the Ancients, the mental state that they all knew and held in their genes of wolf blood. It was instantly recognizable as that of what she was. "Stroqyi," she whispered. Star Wolf.

**A/N: Ah, yes, another long chapter today! I honestly didn't think this would be more than 2000 words, but it turns out to be nearly 5000! Whoa! Guess I just got really into this chapter, and in a big way, I did! Thanks to imjustlikehumphrey, Alexander, The-crazy-lone-wolf77, LilyandMe, Dawn Walker Wolf, the dark shadow, and RexieCakes for reviewing my last chapter!**

**-The Dishonored Wolf**