Summary: When a wolfos mother adopts a keaton pup, controversy arises in the pack. What happens when the keaton later learns of his hidden past? And what happens when he stumbles upon a Kokiri child in the forest? How will all of this affect his future?
Rating: K plus, but this might change in future time.
Flames? No flames, please, although a bit of constructive criticism is nice. But, by all means, am I not refusing the offer of a friendly review! ;) Don't be shy in reviewing; I won't bite!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, or characters of these games including Link, the Kokiri, keatons, wolfos, Hyrule, Termina, et cetera. This story has been written for the fun of it, not for the sake of money.
I do, however, own all the identities and personas of the characters such as Trey, Shadow, White Foot, Twiggy, Blaze, et cetera.

Author's Notes: In the last chapter, some of you might have noticed the incorrect usage of exclamation marks where there should have been question marks, right? Those were meant to be question marks followed by exclamation points, but the fanfiction editor program took them out without me even noticing. –grumbles-
These first couple of chapters may not seem very exciting, but there is important information in them, and I promise it'll get more action-packed soon.
Chapter two is dedicated to the real Twiggy; a hyperactive, small dog who managed to keep a smile on everyone's face. We love you Twiggy!

-oOoOo-

Wolfos in Sheep's Clothing
-
Chapter Two: New Experiences

-oOoOo-

It had been hours since the scene between White Foot and Blaze, and the sun was barely peeking over the tops of the trees in the Lost Woods. Some wolfos were already getting up from their sleep, and were now stretching their stiff muscles in the open field. Others were still napping, but not for much longer. Of the wolfos who had arisen, White Foot and Shadow were among them. They needed to discuss a few matters privately, away from the pack.

"Let's go to the Sacred Meadow to talk," Shadow suggested as they emerged from the vine-covered entrance. "It's nice and peaceful there, so it should calm down our nerves."

White Foot nodded. "That's a good idea. Is there a pond or stream on the way? I'm thirsty."

"Yes, there's one near the entrance."

By the time the couple arrived at the Sacred Meadow after White Foot had gotten her wanted drink, the sun was almost over the treetops. Birds began to chirp with morning routine as they flew about in the trees, not lollygagging even once. The Sacred Meadow was universally known to all forest dwellers to be the peace-centre of the Lost Woods, blessed by the Forest Sage herself. It was a holy place to all, really, as everyone who lived in the forest obeyed the ancient laws of the Forest Sage.

White Foot settled herself on a patch of grass, lightly drizzled with morning dew, as Shadow sat himself on a pile of leaves in front of his mate, so they would be eye-to-eye.

A minute passed between the two wolfos as they just sat there, listening to the harmonious sounds of the tranquil meadow and feeling the warmth of the morning sun on their fur. Finally, Shadow broke the moment of stillness, almost hesitantly, with a, "It's beautiful, no?"

White Foot nodded. "It's gorgeous." She sighed happily, though somewhat sadly. She knew why they had come here, and it was not to enjoy the beauty of nature, sadly.

"We didn't get the opportunity to talk to each other last night," Shadow started, also knowing the reason why he and his mate were here. "We were all tired, you especially, with the days' happenings."

The light grey wolfos nodded her head slowly, preparing herself to discuss matters with her mate.

"I think the question that's haunting both our minds is 'What are we going to do with the pup?'. We need to decide something, because this is a very fragile situation, as you know."

"Keatons and wolfos have been enemies since the dawn of time, yes." White Foot summed up with a sweep of her tail. "I think we should not tell Trey about his past, if he does not remember it, until he is older. He will not understand, I think, at such a young age."

Shadow hesitated for a moment. "I agree. But we'll have to break it to him slowly so it isn't a shock to his system at first. Remember, when he's an adult, he'll know of the hate, so he might rebel if we're not careful."

"And we'll also have to spread the news slowly through the pack; otherwise they might get the wrong ideas about him." White Foot added, earning a nod from Shadow.

"If you want, I can show him around the forest today," Shadow suggested, adjusting his weight on his paws. "He'll need to know where everything is."

"Good idea."

Then, they slowly switched over into conversation about other matters: the welfare of the pack, the amount of prey in the forest, what a lovely day it would be, the like. The two wolfos sat in the meadow, once more, in a peaceful silence. It felt like paradise, unrealistic and blooming with the wonder of the forest.

"We need to head back," Shadow suddenly said aloud, snapping White Foot out of the moment. "We'll be leaving for a hunt soon."

So they went back from the Sacred Meadow, although it was rather slow, as if they didn't want to leave, and passed through the vines, arriving back home. More wolfos were up at this later time, most of them getting prepared to go for a morning hunt. White Foot left Shadow's side and made her way towards where Trey was still sleeping.

"You were up early this morning," Commented a voice from behind. "I saw you and Shadow leave. Anything you want to talk about?"

White Foot turned around and smiled at the wolfos' politeness. "And a 'good morning' to you too, SnowFrost," She joked, "Shadow and I just needed to talk."

"Oh. Is it about…him?" SnowFrost nodded her head to Trey's sleeping form.

"Yes. His name and Trey and…He's my new adopted son." At this, SnowFrost gasped as her eyes widened, visibly shocked with disbelief at the words her friend spoke. "Shadow and I decided that we won't tell him he's a keaton, so could you please treat him as a wolfos?"

"You…Won't tell him?" The pure white wolfos cocked her head to one side.

"He wouldn't understand about the…" She trailed off, but SnowFrost knew exactly what she was speaking of.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry White Foot; I'll treat him as one of our own."

White Foot smiled. "Thank you. Oh, and would you mind helping me spread the news around the pack?"

"Not at all. It won't be very hard for me anyway." She joked with a twinkle in her eye. The sleek white wolfos was known for being a gossip in the pack; if she heard something, it would usually spread around like wild fire.

"Thanks again." White Foot pressed her nose against SnowFrost's sides, a sign of friendship. "I need to go talk to Blaze and Blizzard about this. I'll see you later, SnowFrost."

"Likewise, White Foot." And with that, the two she-wolfos parted their separate ways; White Foot to the alphas' den, SnowFrost to a small cluster of wolfos.

A few minutes later, though, the two she-wolfos failed to notice a stirring and stretching tiny yellow body. Trey's sparkling brown eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light as he yawned and groaned. "Ugh, where am I…?" He asked no one in particular, though no one heard him.

"Hiya!" A nose poked in front of his eyes all of a sudden. Trey gave a small yelp of surprise as he jumped backwards, falling on his back, sprawled out. The brown-pelted wolfos pup took a small step forward, still intrigued by this new creature. His extremely large hazel eyes scanned over the keaton as his tongue involuntarily hung out of his mouth, comically.

"Who…who are you?" Trey asked, still startled.

The crazy-looking pup cocked his head to one side, his eyes still in a very large state. Trey silently wondered if they were always like this. "I'm Twiggy!" He barked happily, his tail sweeping back and forth furiously. "You're the strangest wolfos I've ever seen!" He said it as if it were nothing, as if they were just engaging in a normal everyday conversation.

Trey, baffled, looked down at his forepaws (he was still on his back, only he was on a slope). "Is that what I am?"

Twiggy shrugged and sat down to scratch something behind his ear. "Sure, why not. You don't have any feathers, so you can't be a bird, right?"

The keaton hauled himself into his rightful position. "Uh, I guess that's true…" He was stopped in his trailing off sentence by two female wolfos who came jogging over to the two pups.

"Ah, I'm glad to see you're awake." The light grey one commented gently at Trey.

He was silent for a moment as he looked at this new being, wonder evident on his facial features. "Do I know you?" He whispered innocently.

White Foot held in her breath for a minute. This would be a perfect time to fox the pup into thinking that she was his mother. "Don't you remember your own mum?" She asked, stooping her head down to his level.

"Oh, so you're my mum?" He grinned, looking relieved. "I thought my mum had left me; she usually sleeps next to me in my den."

White Foot and SnowFrost exchanged somewhat relieved glances at each other. Trey had amnesia, and was missing parts of his memory! "I'm sorry, your father and I woke up early to…take a walk around the forest." She fibbed, not wanting to worry her adopted son.

He nodded, his eyes still glittering at his so-thought "mother".

Twiggy began to bounce up and down a little. "Hey! If we're playing pretend, I wanna play too!" He barked happily, ceasing his jumping to drop down into a fake fighting-stance. "You can be the good guy, the wolfos, and I'll be the enemy, a keaton!" He added a fake growl on the end, pretending to be fierce.

SnowFrost lightly pushed her son with her nose. "We are not playing pretend, Twiggy! White Foot is Trey's mother, and you shouldn't say such false things about it!" She shot her pup a gaze that said "We'll talk later."

The mud-coloured wolfos stopped his play-pretend and looked at his mother with questioning eyes. "But, White Foot's not…"

SnowFrost growled deeply in her throat, silencing her pup's sentence. "Yes, she is."

"I, uh," He was about to say something, but dismissed it with a, "Yes mum."

"Is that what my name is?" Trey piped up, looking at his mother with those questioning eyes again. "Trey?"

White Foot nodded and touched noses with her adopted son. "Yes, that's your name."

"Come on White Foot," SnowFrost politely interjected. "Let's go find Blaze."

White Foot nodded and with one last look at Trey, she turned and followed her friend.

The two pups watched them walk away before turning back to each other. A moment of silence passed between the two of them as they both looked at one and another before Trey asked, "What's a keaton?"

Twiggy shrugged as he scratched himself again, tongue still lolling out of his mouth at the same time. "Beats me. Everyone talks about 'em though."

-oOoOo-

"What are we doing again?" Trey turned his head to face his adopted mother, who was walking besides him. The rest of the pack healthy and young enough to hunt was out as well, travelling in a cluster through the forests, quietly.

White Foot chuckled. "You've been asking me that since we left home and the answer isn't any different than it was before," Trey lowered his head, embarrassed. "Don't be embarrassed, I know you're inquisitive about everything today."—She gave a genuine smile that made the young keaton feel a bit better—"Hunting, we're going hunting. I'll teach you how to do this by yourself, when you're older." She added, answering an unspoken question.

Trey nodded, but turned his attention in the opposite direction as a dark-grey wolfos came sprinting up to join the two of them. "Hey champ," He greeted the young keaton. "How would you like to go exploring the woods with your father after we've had something to eat?"

Immediately Trey's hazel eyes sparkled as a huge grin spread across his face. "You mean it? Wow! I'd love to, dad!" His tails swept back and forth as Shadow and White Foot grinned at their son's enthusiasm.

Then, picking up a scent on the wind, everyone ceased making any sort of noise, waiting patiently in the woods, smelling the surroundings. Blizzard flicked her tail as she sprang off, the pack following her at this new running pace. Trey, puzzled at why everyone had began to sprint, followed suit questioningly.

As he passed through a hedge of bushes, it was clearly evident what everyone was after; a humungous elk stood in the middle of the clearing, thrashing its enormous antlers at the offending circle of wolfos. The little keaton, a loss at words from wonder and unknowing, stood a ways off from the ring of snarling, spitting wolfos, watching intently as Blaze made the first move and leapt at the throat of the creature.

Twiggy came rushing past the intent keaton in a gush of brown. Trey blinked twice as he did a double take before calling out, "Hey Twiggy!"

Instantly, the comical wolfos pup skidded in his tracks, twirled around, and grinning rascally, called back, "Yeah?"

"What are we doing?"

In that same rush of brown colour, Twiggy came hurtling at the keaton. Being totally unprepared for this, Trey's back smacked, hard, against the ground while Twiggy pinned down Trey's forearms with his own paws. "Whadya mean 'what are we doing'!" He practically screamed. "We're only doing the greatest activity known to wolfos kind everywhere; hunting!"

"I know that," Trey managed to shake his head a little bit frown underneath the hyperactive pup. "I mean, what are we doing with that?" He nodded towards the elk, which was being snapped at from all sides by the pack, while Blaze and two others were directly on him, biting at his flesh, attempting to get the massive animal down on the ground.

Twiggy turned his head to see what Trey was nodding at, and then faced him again, still pinning the yellow body down on the ground. "Trying to kill it, of course! How else are we supposed to eat?" He gave a lopsided grin as he sprung off of the yellow body, suppressing an "Oof!" from Trey.

The keaton pup gathered himself from the ground, watching curiously as the muddy-furred pup bounded over to the group of snarling wolfos, then proceeded to jump down excitedly, yelling, "Go get 'em Blaze! Go for the kidneys! Rip open his throat! Yeah!" Still baffled, Trey stood on the sidelines, watching as the now-bloodied animal fall to the ground with a thump.

Not wasting a single minute, the wolfos crept to the body, chewing away at the flesh of the elk, finally getting the chance of eating. White Foot noticed her son was standing a ways away, looking rather timid to the whole situation. She ceased eating for a moment, padding over to where her adopted pup sat. "Aren't you hungry, Trey?" She asked gently, descending her head so it was level with Trey's.

He didn't think about food, really, until his mother had mentioned it. He could feel the vibrations from his rumbling tummy as he gave a lopsided grin and answered, "Yes…"

"Then why not join the others?" She nodded towards the elk carcass, where wolfos were downing it, rather hurriedly, so the scavenger animals wouldn't get to it. "There's plenty of meat to go around."

Trey nodded shyly and hesitantly, headed for the carcass, where some wolfos were already making room for him. Shadow appeared next to his mate, licking his lips, full. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked, drawing the attention of White Foot.

She hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"Keatons, by nature, are not carnivorous." He explained gently, looking directly into his mate's ice-like eyes. "They will kill for defensive purposes, but not for food."

White Foot cocked her head to one side. "How do you know all of this?"

Shadow shrugged and grinned. "I have an owl named Kaepora Gaebora as a friend ever since I was a pup. We meet sometimes in the Sacred Meadow and talk. He knows a lot about the world and would often educate me on other creatures that lived in the Lost Woods."

The two touched noses for a minute as White Foot grinned. "I never knew that. Why didn't you tell me?"

Shadow gave a lopsided grin. "You never asked." His face became serious again. "But are you sure you want to put the child through eating meat? He probably isn't used to it."

At this, Blaze suddenly appeared from the shadows, stunning the couple for a moment. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." He started, his voice deep with authority. "I have an answer to your question, Shadow. If you wish for young Trey to stay in our pack, he must live like us as well. I will refuse to call one who acts differently from us 'one of our own'." He growled and with an angry flick of his tail, he turned, heading back to the group of hungry wolfos.

Shadow and White Foot exchanged apprehensive glances as Blaze sauntered away, his muscles rippling as he walked. "I guess….He'll have to adapt." Shadow summed up with a shrug. His mate nodded slowly before turning her head to see how her son was doing. Internally she feared his keaton instincts would kick in, and stop him from devouring the meat, but prayed that they would not.

Trey stood in front of the carcass, hesitating. One part of him felt that eating this thing was a bad idea, and he shouldn't be doing it, but the other part was growling with hunger, and begged for him to take a mouthful of meat. He fought with himself for a few minutes, his mouth inching towards the carcass, then snapping back. Inching forward, snapping back. In the end, hunger won over instincts as he chomped down on the elk before him. It satisfied his hunger sufficiently, but his senses were screaming about how wrong this felt. Nevertheless, Trey ate and ate until his stomach was filled, much to his adopted mother's silent relief.

He licked his lips with that weird sensation that he shouldn't be doing such things as eating meat. He disregarded it with a flick of his tail as he made his way up where his mother and father sat, laughing and talking about something. They hadn't noticed Trey "sneak up" on them like that until Shadow felt a gentle tug on his dark grey tail. Shadow turned his head around, looking pleasantly surprised at how someone managed to approach him without his knowing, but this look of surprise dissolved into a happy, fatherly grin when he saw his adopted son looking up at him with wide, wondrous hazel eyes.

"Hey champ," He greeted, fully turning around now. "What's up? Full yet?"

Trey nodded and grinned, happy now that his stomach had stopped growling like an angry bear. "Uh-huh! I'm not hungry anymore. Um, dad, I was wondering…" He started shyly, averting his eyes from his father as he trailed off in his sentence.

"Yes? What is it? You can ask me anything, you know." He pressed gently on to Trey's trailed off sentence, wanting to know what was on his son's mind.

Trey hesitated, sucked in a deep breath, and said, "Can we go explore the woods now? Please?" He asked meekly, not wanting to offend his father in any way or get chastised for his simple question.

Shadow chuckled. "Of course! Don't be shy about asking such questions, champ!" He licked the top of Trey's yellow head, earning a somewhat relieved grin from him.

"You two have fun," White Foot stated, stepping beside her dark-pelted mate. "But don't stay out too late; I don't want to stay up all night, pacing, because I don't know where you are." She nuzzled against the dark grey pelt of her mate, speaking with a joking, yet sorrowful, tone.

"Don't worry; we can handle ourselves." Shadow grinned, nuzzling his mate back.

"Eww, mushy!" A familiar pup's voice called out a ways away from them. Who else would it be than Twiggy, who was making a scrunched up, fake-disgust, face at the couple.

SnowFrost pushed his side gently, yet slightly forcefully, as she scolded, "None of that, young man!"

At Twiggy's outburst, Shadow and White Foot began to chuckle with grins on their faces at the innocence of the young pup. "We'd better get out of here now before other pups start making comments," Shadow joked with a chuckle and a sweep of his tail. "Come on, champ; there's a lot I want to teach you."

And with an excited bounce in his step, Trey followed his dad, ready for a fun-filled adventure in the woods.

-oOoOo-

"What's this one, dad?" Trey squeaked excitedly as he pushed his nose against another plant.

Shadow lifted his head to see what his adopted son was looking at now. "Oh! Oh! Trey, be careful! Don't go to close to that one!" He warned, making the curious keaton pup back up a step. "That's a cactus plant, champ," The dark, handsome wolfos explained, stopping in his path. "It's prickly all over, and you'll get small needles in your fur if you get too close to it. If you are lost and need to drink something desperately, you can slash open the cactus with your claws; there's a juice inside."

"But…It has a really pretty pink flower on top!" Trey declared, cocking his head to one side. "How can something look so pretty, yet be so harmful?" The keaton questioned innocently.

"I don't know, I guess it's just one of the many mysteries of nature." Shadow replied honestly, heading over to Trey and nudging his side with his nose. "Come on champ, there's a lot I want to show you, but not a lot of time."

"A'ight dad." Trey happily barked, following his father back to the path they were taking before.

"Champ," Shadow hesitated before continued speaking, "Do you know the story of the three goddesses?"

Trey shook his head and looked at his so-thought father with large eyes. "No sir."

Shadow smiled, almost sadly, as he paused to rest on a soft patch of grass, Trey following suit. "Hardly anybody does," He sighed and gently began kneading the grass a little with his forepaws. "Remember the owl I talked to you about—Kaepora Gaebora?" Trey nodded from his spot across from his father. "He told me something a couple moons ago…About the goddesses.

"He said that the world we live in today has been forged by them. One of the goddesses, Din, who was the goddess of power and physical strength, made the earth; sculpting it with an artistic genius. She made it firm and tough so that it would be strong enough to last forever…Forever until the end of time.

"Now the second goddess, Nayru, who was in charge of wisdom and love, knew that a world would not last without vegetation to live off of. She cultivated the earth, making foliage and lush vegetation spring forth from bare dirt that her sister created. Gaebora also told me how humans plant food in the ground, and eat it when it becomes ripe. Nayru made it possible for humans to do such things.

"The last goddess, Farore, who kept courage and an undying spirit with her, formed all creatures in the world with her rich soul to live on the land her sisters had sculpted. She made the birds, fish, dekus, keatons, wolfos, and even the Hylian humans. She knew that life was going to be a rough road for her creations, even though they had a beautiful land to live on, so she gave every living creature a little bit of courage in their heart where the holder could decide whether this gift was to grow, or to die."

Trey had been looking at the intelligent wolfos with large glittering hazel eyes, totally engrossed in the tale. He gaped, but interjected gently, "Do I have courage in my heart, dad?"

Shadow chuckled. "Of course you do! We all do."

"Even you?"

"Yes, even I have courage." He smiled and licked the keaton fatherly. "Of course, when I told this to other wolfos in the pack, they wouldn't want to hear a word of it. They said that it's only a legend, a myth, but Kaepora Gaebora says it isn't. He says it's true. He's been living for ages, and knows too much for one to speculate on his words. He's an incredibly intelligent being, and I firmly believe that he speaks the truth."

There was a short pause, and then, "I believe you dad." Trey's small voice piped up.

Shadow's ears perked up. "You…You do?"

"Sure!" Trey barked happily, his three tails sweeping back and forth. "You're not going to be telling me lies, right? I mean, you are my dad. My dad wouldn't tell me things that are not true." He grinned as his eyes sparkled with his playful innocence.

Shadow gulped, and suddenly, consciously, felt guilty. He and White Foot had agreed on not telling their adopted son about his true self, and now this statement had forged an uneasy knot in the pit of his meat-filled stomach. "I'm glad you think it's true." He grinned as well, ignoring that knot.

Trey suddenly leapt to his paws as an idea came to him. "I know! Let's talk to Kaepora Gaebora! Right now!" He barked with enthusiasm and joy that had not been corrupted by the woes of the world.

"Settle down," Shadow gently told his adopted son, also rising to his paws. "We will meet Kaepora Gaebora, but not now. Sometime soon, I promise." Trey's ears drooped, sadly, but perked up again when he heard his father add on, "Come on. There's one last thing I want to show you; the Sacred Meadow."

"Oh boy!" Trey barked excitedly, leaping after his father, who had already started to walk away into the forest. "I've always wanted to see what it looks like! I heard some of the others talking about it! Is it far from us? How much longer?"

Shadow suppressed a heart-filled laugh. "I see someone's excited! Do you have ants crawling in your fur or something?" He joked, laughing again.

"Daaaad!" Trey laughed as well, ramming himself against his father's dark grey legs.

"I'm only joking, champ." He flashed a genuine, loving, fatherly smile as they passed through another clump of shrubbery. "It's not far; we should get there in a few moments."

True to his word, the pair arrived in the Sacred Meadow not minutes later, much to Trey's excited anticipation. The young keaton was gaping about as they entered, his tiny head sweeping back and forth numerous times to look at his new surroundings. He had to admit, he was slightly…disappointed. By the way his father talked about the enchanted Sacred Meadow, he thought there would be something more…exciting about it. Where they were was nothing more than a tiny clearing that had a few trees and tall hedges surrounding it. There was a rock too, but it didn't look very enchanted either.

"So," Shadow's voice broke Trey away from his starring. "How do you like it?"

"It's nice, but, uh…" He kneaded the grass gently with his forepaws, unsure of whether to tell his dad of his slight disappointment; he didn't want to make his father sad, too.

But when a couple of friendly chuckles were heard, this most instantly relieved the keaton of his worries. "Disappointing? I know; I had the same reaction the first time I came here with my dad. Come, follow me; I promise this place will be more astounding than it is at the moment."

Trey nodded and watched as his father stepped forward to the tall hedge. He sniffed the ground a little bit, then, pressed his body down onto the ground, and, slid underneath the bushes! The keaton gasped, fearing some creature had devoured his father, as he raced to the spot where he had been. "Dad? Dad, are you alright? Where are you?" He called, sounding a little desperate.

A familiar nose poked out from underneath the hedge, making Trey yelp and back away in shock. "It's alright Trey; I'm here. I'm on the other side of the bushes. All you have to do is squeeze under them." He explained, drawing back in front of the hedge. "There's a little hole, too, so it should make it easier."

Timidly, and a little sceptical, Trey crept down to the edge of the hedge, just like his father had done. Indeed, there was a small hole beneath the bushes, and it looked just deep enough for a wolfos to crawl through. He did as he was told, landing on the other side of the bushes, facing his dad.

"We made that our secret entrance so if a human accidentally discovers the Sacred Meadow, they couldn't come in. This place is just too holy for humans to destroy." He explained to his son while walking through a labyrinth of more tall hedges. The little keaton marvelled at how his father knew exactly where to go. For soon, the pair arrived at another clearing, this one looking more magical than the first.

"Can you feel that?" Shadow whispered and ceased his walking, as did Trey, as he gazed up into the clearing. "That aura?"

Trey remained still for a moment, soaking up his surroundings like his dad. Finally, he shook his head slowly, a silent response to the question.

"You might be too young," Shadow explained. "But there is a holy feeling that lingers here."

"There…is?" Trey whispered, wonder evident on his tiny face.

The dark pelted wolfos nodded his head. "Yes. This is the place where the Forest Sage comes. It has been blessed by Farore herself."

There was a short pause as the two slowly entered the clearing, Trey glancing around at everything; the trees, the flowers, grass, how the birds were singing, and a lonely tree stump in the middle of a feathery grass. "Have you seen the Forest Sage before?"

Another short pause emitted from that statement as Shadow lay down close to the stump. "I almost did, once." He tilted his head back to look at the dimming sky. "I was guarding the entrance to the Sacred Meadow when I heard the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard. I left my post for a moment, following the sound into this area. When I poked my head to see who it was, I caught a glimpse of a young, green-haired girl sitting on this stump, playing a small instrument. But, she disappeared before I could study her more."

"Wow," Trey breathed, ears perked as he listened intently to the story.

"Of course, this meadow is so sacred, we had to establish rules. First, the Sacred Meadow is a place for peace among all Lost Woods dwellers. You can meet here with anybody, friend or foe, and not get in trouble. Second, you may not disturb the nature that grows around the meadow, meaning, you can't break twigs, take leaves, and dig up grass. Thirdly, you may not bring any humans here, but I do not see how that is relevant to anything. We do not associate ourselves with humans. Do you understand?"

Trey nodded his head in solemn understanding, then, a short hiatus until, "Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot, champ."

The pup hesitated, "What's a keaton?"

This question caught the older wolfos by surprise as he hesitated, wondering what to say. "Why do you ask?" That finally came out of his mouth, wondering where his son had heard something about a keaton.

"Twiggy was playing pretend this morning," The pup started, unsure of why his dad would want to know such things. "He was pretending to be a bad guy…A keaton."

Shadow breathed mentally with relief. "Keatons are our enemies." He started slowly, "It has been that way since the earth was made."

Trey nodded and smiled, happy he learned something new. Father and son sat in the cool shade of the trees, basking in the radiant glow and holy aura of the Sacred Meadow, until Trey grinned impishly and said, "Dad?"

"Yeah?" Came a quiet response.

"A-pounce!" The keaton yelped and with that, he lunged himself on his father's back, giggling and squeaking happily as he and his dad rough housed. The dark-grey wolfos also laughed with him, happy that he had someone to look after, like a real son.

They stopped rolling on the grass, and panted, tired from even such a small rough housing. Trey still hung onto the fuzzy, dark fur on his father's neck, while playfully tugging at his ears with his mouth. The two of them still laughed a little, overjoyed just to be spending time together, when Trey broke it.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

He nuzzled deeper into his dad's warm fur. "I love you."

Shadow smiled, sadly, at this. It was not long ago when it was his own pups saying this to him.

"I love you too, champ."

-oO T.B.C Oo-

Dairokkan: Thank you for the review and alert. :)

Cheesefromjupiter: They are my favourites too, partly because they are like a normal wolf. Thanks for your review; you'll definitely see some more of this story!

Steeplee333: Thank you for your review! I'm glad my pacing is at a correct tempo. :)

Talimthewindwaker: Wha—? Disney's Tarzan? No…I don't base my stories on movies…I guess it may seem like Tarzan in the first chapter, but I promise you, it'll be something completly different towards the end. n-n

Much thanks to all my reviewers; your words have enlightened me!