Edited 4/6/16
Interrupted Pranks and Strange Messages
Anra pushed her hair out of her eyes and glanced quickly at Isla and Eron, hoping that she looked as calm and collected as they did. Patia glared that the three of them, "What-Why-What on earth would possess you to do this?" the nurse-maid stuttered in disbelief. "I should tell your father," she said sternly to Anra.
Isla's eyes widened with worry, "Please don't, we're sorry! I swear we'll clean it all up. Won't we guys?" She turned, elbowing her partners in crime, they nodded mutely.
"Yes you most certainly will!" Snapped Patia, then her eyes softened. "Don't worry; I won't tell your father Anra, the king has more important things to worry about right now." She shook her head as she walked away and called over her shoulder, "This had better be all cleaned up by the time I get back here."
The three of them let out a collective sigh of relief, "Geesh, I'm glad we caught her in a charitable mood," mumbled Eron, "I thought for sure she was going to tell your father."
"Yeah, it's just too bad we didn't get to finish," Anra said, rather put out that her childhood nurse had caught them.
"Too bad? Too bad? Anra if we had finished we would have been in so much more trouble!"
"You two were fine with it earlier," Anra muttered.
"Yeah, well that was before Patia caught us, so if we're done bickering like a bunch of little pups, we have to clean this up before she comes back with an actual punishment in mind." Eron huffed, also clearly annoyed that they had been caught in the act.
"This is going to take forever," Isla sighed, the other two grunted in agreement as they looked at the mess they had so artfully set up. The whole room's floor had been covered by small basins of water, with small paths set up in it like a maze so that it was almost impossible to get through the room without running into many dead ends first.
"Let's get to work," Eron groaned.
Anra crept towards her chambers later that night, praying to the Valar that her father wouldn't hear her. She had no such luck. "Anra, come here," called her father. She walked over towards her father, eyes fixed on her feet in guilt and subordinates. "So I ran into Auburn on my way back from my meeting and she had the most interesting story to tell me about how she saw three certain pups cleaning up what looked to be a failed prank. Would you happen to have any idea what she was talking about?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Anra shook her head feigning innocence while mentally cursing at the pokey old she-wolf who just couldn't seem to keep herself from nosing into everyone else's business.
Reigh growled softly, "Anra, you are the princess, my only heir; you need to stop being so foolish and start taking your duties more seriously. Maybe it's my fault that you're acting out; maybe if your mother was still around you wouldn't have these problems." He ignored her flinch at the mention of the long dead queen. "I'm not going to be around forever, you need to be able to handle some of my duties, it is no secret that I'm not as young as I use to be."
"I bet that it hurts admitting that, a big blow to your pride" Anra said with a soft smile at her father.
He let out a laugh, "You have no idea my dear."
"It's not your fault," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I've been so tough on you, I know that it's hard for you too." They were both quiet for a moment as they thought of Anra's mother.
The king cleared his throat and stood up from the chair he had been seated in, "You'd better be going to bed; I expect you to be out training by dawn tomorrow."
Anra gave an exaggerated groan.
"Good night pup. Oh and Anra, if you must insist on doing these sorts of things, don't get caught, that's just embarrassing," the king said with a wink.
Pleased that her father seemed more bothered by the fact that they had failed to complete the prank rather than the fact that they had tried to pull one, she smiled, "Night Papa!"
The next day Anra was at training on time as usual, despite what her father seemed to think and how she could sometimes act, she did take her responsibilities seriously. The training was as taxing as usual, having had to run several miles in human form, then practice their sword fighting skills for warm up. She personally found this pointless, when was she ever going to have to fight in her human form? Never if she could help it. Then after that they were finally allowed to fight in their other form, wolves.
By the time they were finished she was severally out of breath and her normally bright white pelt was brown with dust. She met up with Isla and Eron, all of them still in their wolf forms. The three of them moseyed around through the forest that they called home, Fangorn Forest. The only other major species they had to share it with was the Ents who had been asleep for many years, but even so they lived in different parts, so they never had to worry about crossing paths with each other. Most of Nightstalkers had never actually even seen one before; in fact most hadn't ever seen any other species before (not including the forest animals of course or the nasty orcs that occasional trespassed on their territory).
Apparently many hundreds of years ago their kind, the Nightstalkers, had lived in the open in a real city and had been allies with the men and elves, but there was a dispute of some sort that caused a rifted to form between the Nightstalkers and other species. Though Anra had no idea what it had been about, nobody ever spoke of it. Now they lived out in the forest with no contact to the rest of Middle Earth.
Anra though, didn't really mind, she couldn't imagine having to live in a city full of walls and people, not having enough space to hunt and run free. But there was a part of her that wished things were different, a part of her that wanted to leave the forest and explore the world for herself, meet new folk and go new places. She did her best to try to keep this part of her under wraps though, she was the princess, no matter what she wanted or wished she had to stay here to guide her people, her family, her pack.
Little did she know that soon this part of her would be satisfied.
The three friends trotted through the undergrowth noses in the air in hopes of catching the scent of some prey they could have for an afternoon meal. "Maybe we should just head back to the kitchens, I don't think we're going to have much luck out here today." Isla thought to them. Anra sigh but then growled in agreement, but Eron woofed in disagreement, he wanted something fresh. Isla compromised, "We can keep looking as we head back but I'm really hungry, I don't know about you two." They agreed to this and started heading back towards their pack's base camp where everyone lived.
Not long later the three pack mates where sitting in the kitchen eating some of the cook's spicy stew, when Patia came into the room looking for Anra. "Your father wants you to meet with him in his chambers Anra."
"Okay," she replied around a mouth full of stew, but she continued to eat.
Patia rolled her eyes at the girl, "Now Anra."
"Can't I finish-"
"He said immediately," she said effectively cutting the pup she had helped to raise off.
"Fine," the princess grumbled. "This better still be here when I get back," she said gesturing towards her lunch while looking at her two friends, with an especially hard look at Eron who was infamous for eating anything and everything around him.
Eron held his hands up in defense, "I swear I won't touch it, that is as long as you're not gone for too long," he finished with a toothy smile.
Anra opened her mouth with a retort, but was once again cut off by Patia, who yelled, "Now Anra!"
"Gotta go," Anra raced out of the room towards her father's chambers.
Anra knocked twice before she cautiously entered her father's space, not knowing what he needed to see her so badly about, she quickly racked her mind to see if she had done anything of late that would have upset him. She could come up with nothing. With this in mind she walked up to where her father sat at the table with confident strides and her head held high.
"Yes father?" Reigh looked up and gazed at her for several moments in silence, as if trying to decide something. His unwavering gaze started to make her nervous, so she ducked her head and looked at the floor in submission.
"Anra don't do that, keep your chin up and don't break a stare until the other person does, you are an alpha, a future pack leader don't you forget it."
Upon hearing this Anra raised her chin proudly, before inquiring once more, "What was it that you wanted father?"
"I have just received a message." Anra cocked her head to the side not sure what this had to do with her, unless it was one of the trainers complaining about her for some reason, or something. Recognizing her confusion the pack leader clarified, "It is from the elves."
Anra's green eyes widened in amazement, "What do they want? I thought we had no contact with them?"
"We didn't," he said grimly, "which means that this must be of extreme importance if they are including our kind."
"What is it about?"
"It is from Lord Elrond of Rivendell requesting a representative from our pack to come to a meeting in three weeks' time."
"A meeting in Rivendell, about what?" Anra asked perplexed.
"It does not say, only that it is imperative that we attend," he said with a grimace, as if the words left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"But father, you cannot go, you were just saying yesterday that you are no longer as strong as you use to be!"
"Are you calling me weak?" Reigh growled, his head held proudly, eyes glinting dangerously.
Anra quickly backpedaled, "No! Of course not father, never!" Stupid alphas and their pride, "I'm just saying that you are at the respectable age of 115, and you shouldn't have to partake in such a journey for nothing more than a mere meeting, that's all father, that's all."
"Oh, so now you're calling me old," but there was a smile in his voice and laughter in his eyes.
Anra relaxed upon sensing his change in mood, "What, me call you old? Psst never!" she joked playfully. Then she sobered and said, "So what are you going to do about the summoning?"
Her father's smile slipped from his face and he replied, "Well, I have to send somebody or else we'll look weak, and it has to be a person of in a higher position…"
"You can't send Galorin, you'll need your beta here in case there are any orc attacks," Anra supplied.
"I know, and I can't send your mother's old beta because she just had a new litter of pups," Reigh sighed, pinching the bridge of his noise.
Anra chewed her lip nervously, 'It's now or never' she thought. "I can go," she practically whispered.
The old king said nothing, but she knew he had heard her, even in his declining age he still had the amazing hearing of a wolf. When he still hadn't replied several moments later she repeated it but this time in a strong, clear voice. She was proud that her voice didn't shake when she said this even though just thinking about it scared her. Anra swallowed and forced the fear down though, so her father would not be able to smell it.
He gazed at her once more like he had when she had first came in, but this time Anra did not lower her head or eyes in submission. She held her head high with pride and kept her eyes staring straight forward fixed on a point just beyond her father's shoulder. She heard her father sigh, "You look so much like your mother right now," her eyes widened in surprise, they rarely spoke of her. "You have her hair, her face, but more importantly you have her spirit, her bravery, her kindness. I call you a pup, because that is what you are to me, you are my pup, my only daughter, my sweet little princess, but look at you, you are no longer a pup; you are a she-wolf, a woman, an alpha," he took a deep breath before continuing. "As much as I wish it weren't so, you are right, you should be the one to go, you are ready."