She was born on a cool spring morning, her fur as white as the untouched snow around her. Her father, a strong formidable lupe of a fiery pelt had not been present.
There was only one other that year. A pup, her brother, her father's heir, who went by the name of Ashku. His eyes, like his father's and hers, were piercing orbs of fiery amber.
Her mother, the alpha female, was a beautiful lupess of a snowy-white pelt. Her eyes were of the strangest blue: so clear, and luminous, and pure. Never before had eyes of her sort ever been seen in their pack, and never again, so it seemed. It was the thing about her that Shantahlia remembered the most: Her eyes. They were pools of and long lost memories and mourn, when she knew her. Once, she had been told, they had been filled with magic, mirth and joy. But the death of her love took its toll on her, and she was never able to fully recover. She stayed with her children for as long as she could, teaching them what she could. She watched the twins grow into young pups, then wished them well, for she knew that despite her undying love for them, she could not go on. She was growing wearier and wearier as the days went by. Each day spent on Earth was just another spent away from her love. She died of a broken heart the winter just after giving birth.
That's when Shantahlia's world came crashing down on her.
And so she ran.
Away from her home. Away from her pack. She did not remember why, or even how. All she knew was that she needed to get away. Away from the world where she had no parents. No one to take care of her.
And soon, she was away. Far away.
She wasn't even a teenager yet. Barely a child. But she learned by herself. Learned to live by herself. She didn't need friends. Or family, so she thought. She never felt safe, but she knew that somehow everything would be all right someday.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a cold winters morn. The brightly shining sun made the snow upon the ground glisten like a fragile sheet of blinding glass. The forest was silent.
A slender white lupess came out of her den cautiously, her amber eyes reflecting the glare above as she looked up. Beneath her luxuriant white coat, was an empty stomach. She hadn't eaten in days, and was starving. Game was sparse that winter, and without a pack, she was incapable of taking down anything larger.
She scanned the horizon wearily, searching for movement along the ground., or any sign of something she could eat. She turned her ears forward to listen, but heard nothing but the soft whispery call of the wind.
Finding nothing, she was about to crawl back into her den in defeat, when she saw... Movement.
There! Again! Suddenly alert, she stood up straight. She raised her tail, and darted her eyes around, looking for the source of the movement. She soon saw that not ten yards away from her was a small snowbunny, frolicking seemingly alone in the snow.
Does it not see me? Shantahlia thought to herself in amazement. I'm so close to it!
She froze, unsure of what to do. Any sudden movement and it might get away.
I'll just go for it, she finally decided. She waited for the right moment, and the second the snowbunny had its back to her, she striked.
The snowbunny immediately became aware of its attacker and began to flee. Shantahlia ran in pursuit of her one chance at survival. It was difficult for her. She was weary and hungry, and it was strong fast. But finally, after many minutes had past, she was able to corner it into a small hole between two large rock boulders. Her stomach growled as she approached it in victory. The snowbunny cowered into a ball and she thought she heard it whimper.
That's strange, she thought. She looked around and noticed something else too. The snow around her was trodden and tramped from her paws, but the hare had left no tracks in the snow at all.
The snowbunny whimpered again, as it looked back and raised its head pitifully up at Shantahlia. Shantahlia stared back at the hare frowning. Blue eyes. The hare had blue eyes. She blinked her eyes in astonishment. But how could it be?
She padded up to the snowbunny slowly and crouched in front of it, almost nose-to-nose. It did not run away.
"Are you—" she began.
But it did not answer, and instead, hopped off again. Shantahlia turned her head in frustration. No!
Her eyes followed the snowbunny as it went off, but she did not go after it. She had decided to let it go. The hare leapt soundlessly away for a few yards, then paused and looked back at her just as it was about to hop into the forest. Its blue eyes stared back at her expectantly.
Lured by its eyes, Shantahlia trotted nimbly over to the hare, just as it disappeared through the bare foliage. She leapt after it, unsure of what to think anymore.
It led her through the forest, leaping over rocks and branches, through a winding path of snowy trails. Shantahlia followed it for many miles it seemed, not intending to hunt it down, until they reached a large frozen creek, that Shantahlia was unfamiliar with. The thin sheet of ice on the river gleamed in the morning sun.
The snowbunny paused momentarily at the shore, and looked determinedly over at the other side. Then glancing back at Shantahlia, it slid nimbly across the ice and reached the other side, where it waited patiently for the wolf.
Shantahlia looked nervously at the sheet of ice. The creek was small, but not small enough for her to leap across. She would have to touch it. The ice had been strong enough to hold a small and nimble snowbunny who did not even leave any tracks in the snow, but would it be strong enough to hold a fully grown lupess?
Shantahlia placed a paw lightly upon the ice. It did not crack. She tilted her head up and looked over at the snowbunny for reassurance. Its blue eyes stared intently back at her, encouraging her to cross. Shantahlia closed her eyes, and holding her breath, took two steps to get across the river.
The ice gave in, and cracked under her weight, but luckily not before Shantahlia was able to cross safely. She hadn't even had the time to look back in amazement, when the snowbunny was off again, leading her through a part of the forest inwhich the lupess was not familiar with. It ran nimbly along the frozen creek, pausing only every so often in order to wait for Shantahlia.
Suddenly, they came upon a row of great pines, lined up like a barrier or a gate into a strong fortress. Here, the hare paused for its final time.
Shantahlia stared intently at the hare, waiting for its next move. It stared right back at her, and for a moment, she thought she saw it wink at her.
It turned back, and with a sudden thrust, jumped through the trees.
"Wait!" she cried, as she leapt after it.
On the other side, was a large clearing. Shantahlia looked around, but the hare was gone. Where had it gone? She scanned the ground, searching for the critter, but it was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she looked up to find a large dominating lupe of a fiery blue pelt staring back at her. Her heart skipped a beat, as she recognized her own amber eyes reflected in the eyes of the other lupe. A deadly silence washed through the clearing. For a second, it seemed as if the whole world had frozen. Then, the large alpha male blinked.
"Shantahlia," Ashku whispered.