The party was now trudging along through the woods, all still laughing about how their last adventure in the hunters' camp had gone.
In the last half-hour, they had quickly returned to the dens, and dropped off the blanket they had "borrowed" from the hunters. On the way, they had also ran into Janice and Reba, and gotten more punch from them, which Paddy was now carrying. He did not mind, after all, he was a caddy, and carrying things is what he is paid for (if Marcel pays him).
The sun was now setting, lighting up the sky in beautiful shades of red and orange, followed by an encroaching shroud of dark purple and blue. The sun struggled to maintain its glow on the valley while the shadow it cast from the mountains grew longer and wider. Crickets could now be heard, and a few fireflies would be buzzing around. It was a very beautiful time of day, but Humphrey and the gang were too busy talking and laughing about the camp adventure to pay much attention to it.
"And then Garth and I reached from under the trailer," Mooch grinned, "and then grabbed the tall guy, and pulled him under!"
"Yeah! And then we stuffed him into the trash can!" added Garth, high-fiving Mooch. "that was epic!"
"And then Humphrey with the pipe! You saved Salty's butt back there!" said Shakey.
"Yeah, thanks man!" Salty said.
"Of course bud." Replied Humphrey coolly. "You would have done the same for me."
"Uhhh, oh yeah right! Absolutely! Sure thing." Salty stuttered.
"Oh my, what a show. I do very much wish I had seen it myself." Chuckled Marcel.
"And Batman! HA!" Paddy laughed. "Where did that come from?"
"Oh you know, I've just always wanted to say that." Humphrey replied.
Their laughter slowly died down after a while, and Marcel finally spoke up again. "I do have one question, though, Humphrey: Why did you kiss that human girl? Surely your fiancé would not have liked that."
"Well, I've always wondered what it would be like to kiss a human, and now I finally did."
"And, what's it like?" Asked Shakey.
"Well, it's a pretty thrilling experience. Kind of tickly too." Humphrey replied. "Still, it pales in comparison to kissing Kate" finishing off more cheerfully, and remembering how beautiful the love of his life is.
"Well, I'm just glad nobody got hurt." Garth commented. "And we sure showed those hunters a thing or two about messing with us!"
"Yeah! We sure showed them!" laughed Shakey.
"Alrighty then!" Paddy carried on as he took out the list. "That takes care of torturing hunters." He crossed out 'torture hunters' with his charcoal pencil. "Next, it says 'hot springs'."
"Oooh!" all the omegas ooohed in unison.
"You guys know some good hot springs we can go to?" asked Garth, confused.
"Yep. Up in a little plateau in the mountains." Answered Salty.
"The mountains!" exclaimed Garth as he jumped in front of the party to stop them. "Hold on! The hunters I was somewhat okay with, but the mountains are cougar turf! If we get caught up there, there will be a lot of trouble!"
"Relax Garth." Humphrey cooed. "The cougars don't know about the place we go to. We're safe, don't worry. It's all good!"
"Okay, if you say so." Replied Garth uneasily. And so the party continued onward to the hot springs. On the way, Garth spoke up to Humphrey again.
"Humphrey, you know these are a lot of bad choices you've been making today, right?"
"Yeah, what about them?"
"The only reason I've been standing by you on them is because you're my best friend. You know that, right?"
Humphrey stopped for a minute, surprised at what Garth had just said. He knew that he and Garth had become better friends in the last few weeks, but he did not know they were that close. But then again, they were brothers-in-law now, and similarly brothers in that context.
"Oh, right." Humphrey said after a second, snapping back to reality. "Well thanks." And with that, they all continued on to the springs.
Humphrey still kept this issue with being best friends with Garth on his mind. He remembered the horrible start they had gotten off back before the packs united, and now, in just a few short weeks, they were Best Friends? It just did not feel right to him.
Besides, Shakey was Humphrey's best friend. Shakey was always there to help Humphrey with his problems. Salty and Mooch were great guys too, and they also helped Humphrey when he needed them, but they did not understand him quite as much as Shakey did. When Kate was away at Alpha School, Shakey always tried to help Humphrey cope and keep his mind off of her.
Then again, I guess there's nothing wrong with having more than one best friend, Humphrey thought. I guess I can't really place one of these guys above the others. They're all around for me when I need them, and that's why they're all here with me tonight.
Garth was still and Alpha, and normally did not socialize with the lower Omegas, and here he was now, saying Humphrey was his best friend, that he is a member of his little clique. Well, he has been hanging out with us a lot since the packs united, when he's not off on his Alpha duties or being with Lilly, at least.
I guess we are all a clique, the seven of us. Me, Shakey, Salty, Mooch, Marcel, Paddy, and Garth. We're all buddies, amigos, musketeers, amis. We're a club, a team. A secret society! And nothing can separate us! Nothing!
Another few minutes, and finally, they were up the top of a small hill rising up between the mountains, forming a slight canyon. And up at the top, the team came up to the place that Humphrey and his friends knew so well, but Garth, Marcel and Paddy were new to.
They had come to a huge basin-like area of mountain, with the rocks of the mountains forming a rim around the area, keeping it encased like a big room. And across the snow-covered "room" were small hot springs and geysers. Each filled with greenish, murky, bubbly water, with warm, humid clouds of steam rising from them. This steam clashed with the cold air of the mountains, make the room feel warmer than cold.
"Alright then. We're here." Paddy remarked at last, setting down the punch cups he was carrying. "Now let's chill!" he hovered over to a hot spring.
"NO NO! WAIT! PADDY! DON'T! PADDY!" The wolves all shouted after him, but it was too late, Paddy gently fluttered down until one webbed foot touched the water. Right then, his eyes widened as a searing pain instantaneously shot through his body from his foot.
"YEOW!" His scream was heard all throughout the mountains.
And it just so happened that right at that moment, Oscar and two other cougars were up on one of the nearby mountains, stalking a condor. They were on the edge of the mountain on a narrow walkway, hiding in the snow, with the condor on a rock. Just as they were about to pounce, Paddy's scream echoed through the mountains. While the cougars turned away for a second, the condor got startled and flew away.
"Oh, Come on!" whined Oscar angrily, as he stood up and threw down a fist. Almost immediately, the other cougar with the lighter brown fur started rolling on the floor giggling hysterically. "Shut up Pete!" Oscar snapped at him.
All the wolves heard Paddy's scream echo down in the valley. In the Alpha den, Kate and Lilly, who were putting on berry juice as make-up, heard it.
"What was that? What that a wolf?" Lilly asked, startled. She thought it may have been a wolf howling (really badley).
"That wasn't any wolf I know." Kate replied suspiciously. "It couldn't have been Garth right? His howl's gotten much better, right?
Her sister nodded. All of a sudden, their mom peeked into the den. "Girls, rehearsal's in five minutes."
"Yeah Mom, we'll be ready in a second." Said Kate.
As Eve slipped away, Lilly finished putting red marks down her muzzle and asked "Why are we doing this again?"
"I told you. I wanted to do something special for Humphrey. I wanted to do this for him. I think he'll like it. It will also be good for me. Last chance I have to be eye candy for all the other boy wolves, you know? Hey can you help me with my flower?"
Lilly took the pink flower in her mouth, and slipped it into her sister's mane.
"Besides, you'll be showing off for Garth."
"Oh, right." Lilly blushed a little.
"You ready, let's go." And the sisters walked together out of the cave.
Meanwhile, back at the hot springs, Paddy was hopping around holding on to his burnt foot.
"We tried to warn ya." Humphrey commented. "All these geysers, if you sit in them, they'll boil you alive."
"Yeah." Shakey put in. "The only safe one is that pool under the waterfall over there." And he pointed to the rock wall with a cataract waterfall tricking down into a big pond.
The water came from what must have been a stream up at the top of the rock wall, and that stream must have been more hot water from the springs, as it was still steaming from the top. The pond itself was steaming almost as much as geysers, but not quite as much, so the water must have been warm.
"It would have been nice if you had told me that earlier." Grumbled Paddy as Marcel finally brought him a stick he could use as a crutch.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Humphrey apologized awkwardly.
Everyone headed over to the pool. Humphrey was the first to enter. He slid his hind legs in first, and was careful not to step on any loose rocks as he did so. The water first seemed to burn through his fur, but after a second, his skin adjusted to the heat, and embraced it, and he sunk deeper into the water until finally he was up to his shoulders, and laid back against the side of the pool. "Come on in. The water's great!" He beckoned his friends.
Garth first felt the water with his front paw to check and see if it safe, and when it did not burn him, he slipped in front first, and doggy paddled to turn around and sit up next to Humphrey. Shakey came in next to Garth. "You know, it's a good thing to just sit back and relax after a big day of partying, don't you think?" He said.
Then Salty scooched in next to Shakey, then Marcel, who snuggled in comfortably. "Sit in here for too long and I'll be a roast goose." He chuckled.
Paddy passed out to everyone their punch cups before getting in with everyone else. He first carefully dipped in his good foot in before getting all the way in, not wanting a repeat of the last time. Finally, he slowly climbed in, gritting his beak in pain as the water burned his burnt foot, but after a minute, the pain settled, and seemed to make his foot numb, so he managed to sit comfortably.
"CANNON BALL!" Mooch shouted as he jumped into the water. His friends had but a second to shield their faces against the splash. When Mooch resurfaced, he looked over at everyone who was dripping with the warm water. First, they all looked annoyed with him, but then Humphrey started laughing, and soon everyone joined in, and they all started laughing again as Mooch slid up into his spot in between Humphrey and Marcel.
The party sat in the pond for a about another hour, just chatting, letting the steam and heat soak into their pours, and drinking their bitter sweet punch. They told jokes, talked about some funny experiences in their pasts, and sang songs (once the punch started getting to their heads). Until finally, Garth finally brought up a more serious conversation.
"Okay, so you know how my dad and Winston want me to become the new alpha male after they retire?" He started, followed by everyone nodding. "Well, I've been thinking. I'm probably going to need some help running the whole big pack, so I'll just be the true leader as a figure head, and I'll also have a group of other wolves who help me out with ideas and decisions and things."
"You mean like a council?" asked Shakey.
"Yeah, that's it! A council!" exclaimed Garth. "Now because she's my mate, Lilly will definitely have a place on it. And I know Kate was suppose to be my mate before, and Winston wanted her to lead the pack, so she's going to be on it also."
"And hey, that means Humphrey will be on it too, right?" Salty suddenly asked.
"Of course." Garth replied as he turned to Humphrey. "How does that sound?"
"Huh, what?" Humphrey must have been thinking about other things, as he was obviously not paying attention.
"You get to be a member of my council. Does that sound cool?"
"Uhh, yeah, sure. Fine." Humphrey replied, showing little interest in the topic. Garth noticed this and his smile started to fade. He was about to ask what was on Humphrey's mind when Salty popped up again.
"Hey Garth, can I be on your council?"
"And me?" asked Mooch, joining in.
"Ummm. Well, there certainly is something valuable about you guys. I'll think about it." Said Garth, hesitantly. He had not thought of a having omegas as silly and playful as Mooch and Salty on the council, but he did not want to hurt their feelings.
Just then, Humphrey took his tree stump cup, chugged down the rest of the punch that was in it, then threw the cup behind him, and it landed with a clunk on the ground. "I'll be right back guys." He said sullenly as he turned around and climbed out of the pool.
"Where are you going Humphs?" Shakey asked, concern suddenly filling his voice.
"I just need a second to clear my head." Humphrey replied as he shook himself dry, then patted his fur down again. He walked away, and started hopping up a few rocks up to the top of the wall, and seemed to stare out at the horizon.
"What could possibly clear your head more than a cup of punch and a dip in a hot spring with your best buds?" Shakey asked Garth.
"I'm going to go check on him." Garth said as he got out of the pool himself. As he did so, Mooch, Salty, and Marcel were all arguing about why Marcel could not be on the council.
"I'm quite responsible, and can prove to be a most valuable asset I assure you." Snapped Marcel. "I have knowledge on nearly all of Canada and North America, as I have traveled all around those places. One day, you will come to me, seeking my knowledge and assistance, just as Humphrey and Kate have!"
"We appreciate everything you did for them, but I keep saying it, it's a wolf council, and you're not a wolf!" argued Mooch.
"UGH! You are so stubborn!" huffed Marcel.
"Umm, more punch, sir?" Paddy squeaked, trying to ease the situation.
"Ahh yes, thank you Paddy."
Humphrey, with a cool breeze blowing through his fur and into his face, was staring off at the beautiful sunset. The sun had sunk about halfway into the horizon, stretching its reddish-orange glow only a short distance outward through the sky and across the ground. The purple and blue darkness shrouded everything else, with many stars glittering the sky. Humphrey knew it was only a matter of minutes before the sun completely set.
Suddenly, he felt a warm, heavy, and damp paw rest on his shoulder, and he turned around startled to face Garth.
"Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." He apologized, withdrawing his paw quickly.
"No, It's fine. Don't worry." Humphrey replied quickly, and then turned back to the sunset.
"What's wrong?" Garth asked, as he sat down next to his friend.
After a quick sigh, Humphrey answered in a saddened tone. "We were just talking about your council and making big decisions for the pack, right? Well I guess that's in store for me when I finally settle down with Kate, and take up the responsibilities of a beta. And then I won't have much time to goof off with Shakey, Salty, Mooch and you. I won't be 'Humphrey, the fun-loving, peace-keeping Omega' anymore. I'll be someone completely different."
Garth frowned at this whole idea for a second. "I know how you feel. Between my alpha duties and being with Lilly, I hardly have time for the things I want to do. And trust me, my dad doesn't give me a lot of freedom as it is. He he." He started to laugh at the joke he made about his father, but Humphrey only smiled at it.
"But I'm still Garth, the handsome, fitness –loving, action-ready Alpha, aren't I?" And he jumped up on a rock and posed in like he did in his first shot in the film to prove it. "My marriage hasn't changed me that much. I mean it's not like you're going to change into a completely different wolf, Humphrey."
"That's right." Said a voice from behind them. Both turned to see Shakey coming up the rocks, his punch cup in his right paw.
"And you don't have to worry about not having as much time to be with us. The seven of us Humphrey, we're friends for life! Times might be changing, things might be getting busier in the pack, and we all may move on with girls, but we will ALWAYS stick together. We will ALWAYS be there for each other. Kate is hot, but even she's not going to come between us, right!"
"That's right." Humphrey said more confidently, his spirits restored. "Thanks Shakey. Thanks Garth." Humphrey smiled at his friends and they smiled back.
The sun began to sink a little bit more into the horizon. Humphrey stood up and walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked out at it again. And then, he started to Howl. His deep, strong, beautiful howl filled the air.
Garth and Shakey both looked at him, confused why he decided to howl suddenly. "Humphrey." Garth said, interrupting the howl. "What are you doing?"
"Oh come on guys, howl at the setting sun with me." Humphrey continued to howl.
It would feel weird howling at the sun rather than the moon, but at last, Shakey walked over, sat next to Humphrey, and joined in on the Howl. His howl was relatively similar to Humphrey's just a little lighter. And after a second, Garth joined in, and brought his much lighter, and ever so elegant howl into the chorus.
Down in the pool, Salty and Mooch were relaxing, when they heard the howling.
"They're doing a friendship howl without us!" exclaimed Mooch, irritated.
"They're probably waiting for us right now. Come on!" Salty leaped out of the water and started hopping up the rocks to join his friends, and Mooch followed.
"Marcel, sir, should we join in with them in the howl?" Paddy asked Marcel.
"Nah, I think this is a wolf friendship, group thing. Let's let them have their fun. They still consider us members of their clique, don't they?" Marcel humbly replied. He was softened by the punch, and was on the verge of going to sleep.
Salty and Mooch got to the top of the wall, and joined in the group with their howls. Both of theirs were surprisingly light. Still they were beautiful, and would have complimented a lighter howl had there been one there.
The five wolves howled together in unison, strong and long, their song sung with pride. They continued onward until at last, the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and with it, its red and orange light, leaving Jasper with the beautiful night. They poured all their love and affection for each other into that howl, filling the air with emotion. They howled as long as their voices would let them, only stopping every once in a while for a breath. They wanted this moment together to last as long as it could.
When at last their voices ceased, they all stayed quite for a moment to let the moment sink in. At last, Humphrey spoke up.
"Thanks guys, Thank you so much for being there for me, all of you. I'll never forget this one moment we've shared here."
"You won't forget anything else we've been through today, will you?" asked Shakey.
"Not in a million years. This was a great day we've had together. One of the best days of my life."
"And, the party's not over yet, Humphrey." Garth said cheerfully. "Now, we need to get back to the rest of the pack for your big moonlight howl party!"
"YEAH! Bring on the party!" shouted Salty, and all of a sudden, the wolves all went back to their wild, laughing stages they were in on the way to the springs. They started heading down the rock wall.
"Marcel, Paddy, come on, we're leaving." Garth called to the birds.
"Now?" Complained Marcel. "Can't we stay a few more minutes? I really have gotten comfortable here."
"No, now sorry. We're probably late already."
"Late for what?"
"For our next activity I assume." Paddy spoke up. "The list says that now there's a moonlight howl." He took out the list to show Marcel, and at the same time crossed off "hot springs" with his charcoal pencil.
Marcel grumbled as he got up out of the water, and shook his feathers dry. He then helped Paddy out, whose foot was still hurting a little, and then passed him his crutch. Then they flew off to catch up with the wolves.