Chapter 16: Pack History 2

"Wind howled through the trees;
A silent warning of what was to come
And a question to the past long forgotten.

Wolves roamed free and wild
When nekos first hit the alleys
But where are they now?"

Year: May 31, 2308
Location: Wolf Territory, Asiana Pack

Keith finally came back close to sunset with a small doe and firewood. He started the fire while Lupus just sat watching then he dug a pot out of his bag and filled it with water.
"How do you like your stew?" he asked as he set the pot on the fire and turned to work on the deer.
"I haven't had stew in a long time" Lupus muttered, more to herself, before responding "It doesn't matter, however you make it."
"Do you live here alone? I thought the pack had three survivors…" Keith glanced up as he worked, testing the water before adding the meat.
"You know the song then…" Lupus shifted her gaze to the sunset as she spoke, "There were four who survived the flood…one of my pups died soon after though and the other left for lion territory…"
"The loner stills communicates with the evolver alphas…" he dug some vegetables out of his bag and began adding them to the pot, his fingers still busy working as he chatted, "He's a red though, what happens to this land after you?"
"I am the last Lupus of the grey wolves…when I pass this land will become bloody again…" she turned back to him as the aroma of the stew drifted into the air, "The red wolves of the south and the artic wolves of the north will fight over it…"
"Hmm…" Keith left the stew to cook and rose back to his feet in a long stretch, "The spirit packs fight a lot…"
"It is our way but you did not come here for that, it is time we get to the matter of the mutt…"
"Her father was a dog I heard, but I didn't think the different packs interacted beyond the alpha level…"
"They don't, it is unusual for such crossing but it can happen…" she waved for him to sit again and shifted herself to a more comfortable position, "Let us skip on to the mutt's tale…"
Keith resumed his seat before her, absently tending the food as he listened.
Lupus nodded, her eyes distant again as she began her new tale, "I had already passed leadership to my eldest when the mutt was born…her black fur and blue eyes giving her away…
The mutt was not given an easy life among the grey wolf pack, she was outcasted early on and shunned by the older wolves.
It was tradition to ignore any pups that bore fur against the main color, as it was tradition for the artic and red packs to hate any wolves born among the grey bloodline, and so tradition was carried out as it always was.
The fact that she had a digimon partner did not help matters, because of her partner she was teased and tormented by her packmates.
Despite this it seemed fine, even normal, until the mutt reached her teenage years and decided she had had enough. She had secretly developed her elemental powers far beyond normal means and on the river bend she showed the pack what they had created.
The alpha died at her paws only moments before the flood waters rose and destroyed the rest of her tormenters.
…I was away when the waters rose but only just managed to reach the mountains…" Lupus lowered her head as she finished.
Keith blinked, focusing on spooning the stew into bowls as he processed this new information. He passed one bowl to the elder as he began eating his own, "The pack created a dangerous enemy…they say she had no name but tradition dictates that all pups, even hated, are given a name…"
"Yes, names are recorded for all pups…" Lupus sniffed at the stew a moment before taking a bite, clearly pleased with hot food after so long in the woods, "The name put down in our records was Kopek Neve Bay…that was her name…"

Location: Cave of Fusion, Digital World

Pride sat on her perch in the main cavern, her partner resting on the stone floor in front of her as she glared at the group before her. "Sloth, where is our new member Envy?" her voice was icy as her gaze finally rested on the ape-boy, her hand already gripping her digivice.
Sloth cowered away from her, his eyes instantly on the floor as he remembered Wrath, "I-I don't know…she just disappeared…"
Pride snarled, the watery blade already pointed at the cowering darkdestined as she shifted her gaze back over the group, "Envy will be brought back here, unless you want to follow your girlfriend into the afterlife."
Sloth scurried away down the exit tunnel, his eyes never leaving the ground as he made his escape.
Greed carefully stepped forward as the ape-boy disappeared, his gaze uncertain but more confident than the cowardly Sloth. "What will you do with her when she returns? She carries both crests…" he trailed off as Pride's glare turned to him, her blue eyes frosty in the minimal light.
"I won't kill her…not yet anyway…" Pride released the blade as she relaxed back into her perch, the threat over for the moment, "She will be taught a lesson though, perhaps she can bring in some new recruits…"
"We do have several crests left…the cave seems emptier without a wrath…" Lust murmured quietly, one hand on Greed's shoulder as she approached their leader, "Might we return to the club business now?"
"Do as you like, I need more data anyway…" Pride waved them away and shifted her gaze to the other three, "Calamity, take Gluttony and go wreck something…Chaos, I need more digieggs."
The strange spider-girl bowed, her partner keramon beside her now, "As you wish alpha. Come snake, let's go to the base this time…" She turned then and left, Gluttony following close behind.
"I hate going to that village, you won't let me destroy anything there…" Chaos grumbled, his partner blackliollmon resting at his feet.
"If we destroy the village then I won't have any new test subjects, now go fetch them…" Pride growled, half rising from her perch as she tightened her grip on her digivice again.
"Fine but I get the next destruction mission…come on Shade." Chaos was still grumbling as he left, his tiger tail twitching behind him and his partner scurrying to keep up.
"It might be safer to kill that one now, the other crests do not listen as well as the sins…" the blackgatomon opened one eye as he left, her voice expressionless.
"It is fine Dema, he is necessary for now…" Pride waved the warning away and left her perch to head for the back room, her experimental labs.
"If you say so…" the digimon muttered, resuming her nap as her partner left.