"Eat," I say firmly to the pups. Shadow reluctantly takes a nip of the decaying elk retrieved from the recent hunt. Cloud just shakes his little head feebly back and forth. "C'mon, Cloud. You have to eat something." My voice sounds strange. Different. Since news of my mom's death two days ago, I have changed. My voice is more adult-like, and my attention has been solely focused on Cloud, Shadow, and Phoenix. I have slowly let Skhala and the others drop out of the picture, and they haven't made a move to try to change that. Maybe they know that I'm just dealing with quite a bit right now, not to mention I'm the 'star' of the pack currently. First I become injured from the landslide and then my mom dies. And just to top it off, Phoenix and I are mates. Whenever I walk by someone, I feel like they're talking about one of the events that has come to make me well-known throughout the pack. I have gone from something short of a ghost lurking in the shadows that only hangs out with close friends and family to a prominent, recognized wolf far and wide around the pack's borders, although it is completely different circumstances than what one would usually be placed in the lime-light for. No, everything, except becoming Phoenix's mate, has been dreadful and something that I wish nobody knew. For the past few days, all I ever hear from the older wolves is and was "I'm sorry to hear your loss," or "Your mother was a great wolf." I hate all of it! How are these words supposed to comfort me? It just opens up the wounds that I've tried to bandage and heal.

"I'm like, not hungry," Cloud mutters as his eyes feast on the carcass. Drool is visible, but he just licks it away as he backs away from the elk.

"Why?" I inquire. "Cloud, you haven't eaten for a couple of days. You're growing, and you need your protein." I lick his forehead, grooming his fur and sleeking the small spikes that stick up here and there.

"I like, miss mom, okay? Like, leave me alone," he says as he backs away and shoves his head into his paws. "And you can choose whether you eat or not. It is like… not fair." I probe my mind for a statement that will make him eat.

"If you don't eat, then you can't play today," an airy voice says. I look over and see Phoenix.

"Hey," I say with a smile. I run my body under his chin before sitting down again. Cloud looks at Phoenix and then back at the elk. He sighs and then dives into the elk, his mouth tearing into the fore leg.

"Phoenix," Shadow brags, "Look at what I can do!" He grabs onto large bone and lifts it into the air. Phoenix laughs and I join in for a second, every worry gone. His jaw begins to tremble just as he sets it down. Phoenix takes a seat beside me as we watch Shadow tackles Cloud. The rustling noise of leaves reaches my ears and I turn around to see Aireo appearing from the forest.

"What is he doing here?" I ask my mate uneasily.

"He's my friend," Phoenix whispers as the wolf comes nearer. "Hey, Aireo. Long time no see."

"Was' up?" he asks, his grey, blue-tinged coat absorbing the sunlight. His grey eyes shine spectacularly as he parks next to Phoenix. I become more and more jittery as time passes on, the two still talking. Skhala and the others are just visible through the bushes along the line of the forest and clearing. God. They're going to come over here. Sure enough, seconds later, Cherry appears as the front line with Skhala and Liko in close pursuit. Awkwardness takes over me as they too take a seat, uninvited, only a couple of feet away from the five of us.

"Hey Phoenix," Skhala says. Has word not gotten out everywhere between us two? Is she really that clueless? Phoenix gives her a weird look and then continues his conversation with Aireo who is now staring Cherry up and down. I roll my eyes and lay down, my ears pressed tightly against my head. "Remember about what I asked you… like a couple of days ago? I was wondering if you would take me up on my offer."

"What offer?" Aireo asks, his eyes glancing between the two wolves suspiciously. Skhala ignores him as she keeps her face pointed towards Phoenix.

"No, Skhala. Sorry," Phoenix adds. He looks at me before saying, "Bandit and I are mates."

"Yeah, be on your way," Aireo says with a smirk, his eyes glistening. Skhala gives a little giggle as she looks at him. "Sorry, Phoenix. I think I'm going to go." Phoenix sighs as Aireo trots off with the group. A soft noise, something like a purr, emits from my throat as I rub my chin on his shoulder. Phoenix smiles and rests his head on mine.

"Well, at least they're gone," I say to Phoenix. He grins again and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"PDA!" I hear a small squeaky voice say. I look to my left and see Shadow with his paw pointing at us, the other one covering his eyes half-way.

"What does PDA mean?" Cloud asks curiously.

"Public display of affection," Shadow says, his eyes rolling as he turns his attention back to us. "You two get a den! Geez, wolves these days." I know he's just trying to sound cute and funny, but the worst part is, it works. Even Cloud perks up and begins to roll around with laughter. The traumatizing events of the past few days are suddenly gone as my mind clears instantly, as if a light has turned on in the middle of the night.

"Maybe we should," I hear Phoenix whisper in my ear. I can feel my face yet again grow hot and my eyes widen slightly.

"Hmm. That can wait for now," I say with a smile, my ears perked. "We've got these idiots to take care of."

"Who are you calling idiots?" I hear Shadow ask.

"You!" I answer as I turn around and walk a couple of steps away from them, Phoenix following, so we can talk in peace but still watch the mischievous little pups.

"That wasn't very nice," Phoenix jokes as we sit down, side by side.

"Oh, who cares?" I ask, my expression joyous. Then my own question sinks into me. Mom would care. My face falls.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," I say in an assuring matter, but the edge I get in my voice when I lie is thick and noticeable. I hope he doesn't pester me anymore. I don't want to talk about it. I get up and circle around, my paws creating slight dents in the soft dirt. I keep my eyes low as Phoenix's dig into me, looking for conversation. The noise of Cloud and Shadow behind me is the only comfort as the awkward stretch of time stretches on. I sit down and gaze off towards the woods on the other side of the clearing.

"Hey," Phoenix says as he gives me a light nudge, "let's go to the ledge. We can bring Shadow and Cloud along so that way they aren't alone." I meet his blazing, yet caring, golden eyes.

"Okay… I guess," I say, my voice feeble as I get up yet again and stretch. "Shadow, Cloud. C'mon." The follow obediently, their small, slender tails bouncing back and forth as they trot behind me and in front of Phoenix.

"Where are we going, Bandit?" Shadow asks. I don't reply as my eyes focus on the approximate area of the ledge, as it is shrouded by trees. "Ugh. Phoenix, where are we going?" Shadow diverts his question. Phoenix just smiles as Shadow gets more and more agitated. "What is this, a trick?"

"Like, yeah, like they're going to like, eat us!" Cloud gasps before he begins to laugh in an absurd matter. His glistening coat of fluff zooms past me as he races towards the cliff. I get ready to yell at him to be careful, but he seems to be a psychic, and suddenly screeches to a halt. "This is so, like, awesome!" I let lose a small laugh, trying to shield my hurt that is nipping away at me every passing second since I uttered those words. Who cares? I hate those words. I hate myself. I hate nearly everything, it seems. The past few days have been a rollercoaster of emotions. One second, I could be fine, but then the next… well, I was like this. Pain courses through me as I watch the two pups romp around, play biting and chasing each other until they become dizzy. Phoenix and I take a seat side-by-side as we yet again look out over Yellowstone. Quietness settles over us like the sun's rays fall upon the land.

"I'm actually quite surprised—and relieved, definitely relieved—that there hasn't been any odd happenings lately," Phoenix undoubtedly tries to start a conversation. He looks me up and down, waiting for a response of any kind, dimwitted or intelligent, long or short. Honestly, I can't care less about what I say, either, but to my dismay, nothing appears in my throat. I can't quite seem to cough anything up. What the heck, I can think of something….

"Yeah," I say dumbly. God, can I say anything worse? At least we're already mates. He won't dump me now. "I mean… I don't know, never mind." Great, I just made things a whole lot worse. I turn around and begin to sluggishly move towards the forest.

"Bandit, don't do this. It's fine. I really do understand, you don't have to walk away." But I don't listen, I keep on walking. "Bandit!" Phoenix trots ahead of me and cuts off my path, his tail lowered, his ears just barely flattened towards his head.

"What? I just can't do anything right, Phoenix. If you really understood, then we wouldn't be having this chat. You would have let me go."

"Don't be like that. C'mon, come back. Please. Bandit, I—" Phoenix cuts his sentence off.

"You smell it to?" I ask him. He nods his head very slowly.

"It smells like… sulfur." Phoenix says bitterly. Panic rises in my chest. "Oh, God. Bandit, get the pups."

"What? Why, if it's just a fire, maybe it's just the people—" I turn around and see something straight out of the stories. Shadow and Cloud are standing there, tails tucked tightly between their legs as they stand there, quivering, peering up at the monstrous form that is coming from Norris. Colossal black plumes of smoke and ash are blasting from the basin. I stand there, frozen with fear as the stench becomes stronger. But there is no more time to wait. If there is a pyroclastic flow, we may as well be dead if we stay here. Even if we leave, we may not make it in time. But if there isn't, then we may just be able to stay here, right? Although, I do remember something mother said…

"Phoenix," I say hurriedly as I grab Shadow in my jaws, giving Phoenix Cloud, "what does ash do?" He thinks for a quick moment as the deafening noise of the eruption fills Yellowstone.

"I think, if I remember correctly, it creates a thick, liquid substance in your lungs…. Basically, you drown and die," Phoenix puts it simpler, his face smeared with fear as he doesn't bother to meet my gaze, he just stares off at the erupting volcano.

"Just brilliant. We're all going to die!" Shadow screeched.

"No we aren't. I'll make sure of it," I say as I look back at the wall of black smoke. But something doesn't seem to be right… it seems to be reaching out near the bottom…. Like it's flowing.

A/N: I must say, I was not expecting this story to go on for so long. In fact, I thought it was only going to be 7k, but it seems that that was an underestimate. It will most likely come out to be 14-18 thousand words, instead. As you can tell, the super eruption has begun. I know I said that it would be 1-3 in earlier chapters, and this is the third one. I was planning on it being more like the 1-2, but things are going slower than I planned. I decided to go with more of a pre-story before all of the action kicks off, get you sort of attached to some of the characters if I can (at least I skipped a couple of days instead of going on and on!).

Also, I will be continuing Silverflash *after* this story is completed, so if any of you actually read it, don't worry, it will be continued. ;-)