The bar broke just before Daymother rose into the sky. Leader heard the metallic clank and carefully opened his jaws wider. The scratched silver bar tumbled out onto the ground. The sound awoke the whole Pack, who padded over to their Alpha. "Leader strong," No Tail murmured.
"Leader brave," Blood Fang added.
"Leader great," Follower commented, his tail swishing.
Nameless Barker pressed her muzzle into Leader's side. "Leader make strong father for pups," she barked lovingly.
"Leader free Pack!" a subordinate wolf called Shadow yipped, trying to gain favor with his Alpha. "Pack love Leader! Le-e-E—Eek!" He broke off in a startled shriek of pain as Follower clamped his fangs over Shadow's tail.
"Shadow stay shadow," the silver wolf snarled. Shadow whimpered and crawled away, tail between his legs. Yes...back to the shadows with him. That was his place. The shadows.
Leader's thick, plumy tail wagged happily with the praise of the Pack. He smiled a wolf smile. The Pack was strong and loyal. The Smallfurs would soon see the error of their ways. No one should release the Pack...that was the whole reason the Furless had locked them away. That was the whole reason so many Furless came every day to look at the Pack. They needed to know who to look for.
"Day of Pack now!" Leader barked, his head and tail high to indicate his role as supreme leader of them all. "Pack free! But Pack wait for Alliance. Pack make paw-swear with Alliance. Not break paw-swear." The whole Pack nodded. Paw-swears were a strict code of honor. To break one meant death.
The whole Pack nodded...except for Blood Fang.
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
The white he-hound was furious. Keeping a sacred paw-swear with Smallfurs? Smallfurs were not to swear with. They were for feeding pups! Blood Fang kept his gaze low as he scowled at his paws. Father-Leader was mad...he must be ill with the foaming-mouth sickness! A bunch of Smallfurs! Leader howled encouragement for his Pack. Blood Fang joined in, though hesitantly and not with his whole heart.
Leader's son padded away from the happy group, into the darkness of the False-Den. He brushed past the shiny leaves that blocked off the entrance. Once within the False-Den, Blood Fang sat down and scratched behind his ear. A couple of sleek shapes slunk towards him.
Shadow sat in front of Blood Fang. The dark wolf whimpered. "Blood Fang angry," he observed humbly.
"Angry at Leader," Blood Fang grunted. A new shape came close enough to be identified as Bone Claw. The pale gray wolf groveled on her belly closer to Blood Fang.
"Leader wise and strong. Lead Pack to glory," she reminded him. "Leader father of Blood Fang."
"Hate Leader!" snarled Blood Fang. "Leader head growing light. Not wise any more. Make paw-swear with Smallfurs." The white hound stood up. "Leader die soon."
"Not old," a third voice barked. Blood Fang looked over to see another wolf he knew well. It was Bone Claw's litter-brother, Low Step, a wolf with brownish-red fur and oddly short legs. "How die?"
"Low Step stupid." Shadow's hackles rose. "Blood Fang kill Leader!"
Low Step pulled his lips back in a grin of fear. What they were plotting strictly went against wolf hierarchy. How could one young wolf take on his massive father? The look in his sister's and Shadow's eyes told him that perhaps Blood Fang would not be alone. He stepped forward. "Help Blood Fang," he barked.
"Help," Bone Claw added.
"Help." Shadow nodded.
Blood Fang nodded, licking his lips hungrily. He could almost taste his new leadership. Shadow, Bone Claw, and Low Step all bellied towards him, their eyes gleaming excitedly. Blood Fang took each muzzle in turn in his mouth and bit down gently on their noses. "I am Leader," was the message of his gesture. After being bitten, each wolf turned over onto their backs and flashed him their white bellies. "You are Leader," their actions proclaimed. Blood Fang's white tail wagged happily.
"Follow Blood Fang to glory," he growled, striding back and forth in front of his new followers. "Start new Pack. Let old Pack follow old Leader. New Pack follow new Leader!" The members of Blood Fang's group of rebels yipped agreement. "Old Pack called Pups of Starsire. New Pack called Pups of High Tail." The rebels nodded their agreement. High Tail was Starsire's strongest and noblest pup.
"Pups of High Tail follow Blood Fang everywhere!" Bone Claw yelped, her tail swishing softly behind her. She kept it low to avoid the tail-challenge. Blood Fang made a panting noise deep in his chest. The others looked on in amazement. The white wolf threw back his head and laughed. Slowly, hesitantly, the others imitated his action. Slowly, hesitantly, they changed their laughter to howls. In the shadows of the False-Den, the conspirators laughed and howled.
The deed was done. Leader would fall.
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
"Mother...the hounds are scheming."
"I know, my child. But there is nothing we can do. Proud Leader will not listen to the simple foxes. We are below him. But courage, my child. All is not lost. I have seen it all in the eyes of the star-cats."
"The star-cats. You've been seeing them lately, Mother?"
"I have. They are sending a group of their living brethren to stop the Pack, and they are sending them to us."
"To us? Are we ready for them?"
"Yes."
The sun rose slowly into the sky, turning it lighter. As the golden disc of the sun appeared on the horizon, the air it touched reflected the hue. Dark blue shifted to a lighter shade, then finally to yellow and pink. The world slowly awoke to greet the beautiful dawn. Black claws clicked softly on the smooth, icy ground. Two creatures, one pure white, the other a milky gray, slipped out to view the daybreak. The white shape was larger and sleeker, her thick fur standing up in the chilly air. The gray shape was about half the size of the white, and her pelt was fuzzy and stuck up in tufts.
"Why do we see these star-cats, Mother?" the blue-gray creature asked curiously. The white one looked down at her.
"Because we have a connection to them. Remember your constellations, my child? The star-cats reside among those constellations. Because we spend time watching them, so they watch us."
The grayish furball nodded. "And the star-cats trust us?"
"They trust us to watch out for their living brethren. I believe they trust us very much." The white creature sighed, fluffing out her rich, snowy fur. "Although now that the hounds are free, I'm not sure if we can help them."
"Why don't we run free as well, Mother?"
"Hounds and foxes are different, Starchild," the white fox reminded her kit. "Hounds long to run with their ruffs in the wind. Foxes wish to study things closely and better survive. We can survive here just fine. We do not need change."
Starchild sighed. She ducked her head deeper into her shoulders, shivering slightly. Her mother licked behind her ears. "Come, child. The night is up. We must return to the shadows and chart the stars anew."
Starchild followed her mother back into the den. The white fox swished away dust and ice fragments from a wall of the small cavern with her thick tail. At a nod from her mother, Starchild stepped up and placed her claws on the icy wall. "Jupiter was further North, if I recall correctly," she murmured.
"It was. Mark it down."
The gray fox kit nodded and chipped away at the ice on the wall. "The humans may reset our astral charts soon," she commented as she scratched a mark for Jupiter. "But all this practice is good for me."
"I should think so, my child." The white fox, Moonchild, nodded her head seriously. "Do not forget that last rune for Jupiter's name, please. You've gotten into that habit."
"Unfortunately," muttered Starchild, scraping her claw in the last mark. She stepped back. "There. How does that look?"
"Wonderful." Moonchild wrapped her tail around her kit. "Jupiter has been moving closer to Neptune, has it not?"
"Do you think they will align soon, Mother?" Starchild asked. Moonchild shrugged.
"Perhaps. One can only wait to see."
"And the living cats. Will they make it here in time?"
"So many questions, Starchild." Moonchild ducked her head deeper into her ruff. "You must have faith in them. They will make it here. They will stop the Pack. They must." Moonchild gazed up at the roof of the den, where even more stars and planets were marked. "They must."
Starchild shuddered and curled up closer to her mother. Moonchild had been born in the wild, and had been captured and shipped at the same time as Leader and Nameless Barker. She knew the hounds well, and had been present for the birth of their first son, Blood Fang. But Leader was now refusing the fox's help.
But because of that wild birth, Moonchild knew more of the old fox ways than any other creature. She knew the importance of the stars' orbits. She knew how to calculate an eclipse. She knew how to navigate her way in the landmark-less tundra. She was a mystical animal, with more knowledge of spirits than anyone else. And she was passing it all on to Starchild.
Starchild closed her eyes and curled up in the nest her mother had made for her. She listened to her mother's claws click as the white fox left the cave. A shiver passed down the kit's spine at the sound of a high, keening wail...the cry of the Arctic fox.