[I must apologize that it has been so long coming. More to come, so check back soon- enjoy.]

Aleu and Niju

Afternoon Upon the Sea

Aleu's heart was racing as she paddled through the sun warmed waters. She could still feel a slight chill that made her body ache with the memory of the previous night. Seeing the lights in the sky, and being so close to the edge between this life and the next made it all seem like a vision that Aniu had designed. But her body still felt so drained.

"Yes! This is the remains of the ice bridge on the side of the new lands. These will take us straight there!" Aleu yipped in her excitement as she clambered aboard one floe, hopped to the next and so on.

Niju, still dubious about her certainty remained a few hops behind. Aleu fumbled over the crumbled bits of the floes that got stuck in her paw pads and had the occasional slip into the waters, but was insistent in her pace.

Niju thought about her utter hurry. He wondered if she was in a hurry to leave him with the pack or if she hurried because she had changed her mind and planned to take the reins as leader of the clan once more. Only a few days back they had been thrown together and he wondered if fate would still pity him when she was gone. If she was gone. Aniu may have very well planned for her to be thrown back into his path if she did choose to leave for home. The White Wolf seemed to be favoring that arrangement lately.

"There it is! Ohh, I can see it!" Aleu beamed as she stood on the edge of the icefloe. She noticed that the floes pretty much ended here and the remaining distance to the new lands would have to be swum. It didn't deter her- she'd done the impossible already. Although returning to Nome before the winter was also unfeasible, she figured.

Niju almost hadn't noticed he caught up with her, until she started talking.

"I guess I'll have to wait for next winter…" She took a slightly mournful look back complete with a perfect sigh. "I really don't know what comes next, but I obviously can't go back that way. I barely made it last time."

So that predicament from last night hadn't changed her mind. She still had her mind wrapped around the idea of going home. He supposed it was all for the better. Niju couldn't figure out why he wasn't one hundred percent damn sure 'it was for the better', though. This was supposed to be simple, and he forced himself not to question it. This made things simple.

"But you did make it, didn't you?" He felt the need to barb her. For some reason irking her until she was reduced to the teenager he'd first met had an unusual rush to it. He needed to know he was on top.

Her eyes narrowed at his tone and she unglued her eyes from the horizon and turned to him. "Yes I did… However I have decided to stay until next winter. I never want to be reduced to a night like last night again." She had spoken truly like an Alphess. His barb had backfired.

She'd sounded way too sure of herself and the world around her for Niju's likes. Perhaps he should remind her of her inability to hunt. However, he still needed her to hand his rightful power over first. He didn't trust the inner huffy teen in her to not come out and spoil his chances and the clan's survival out of spite. He knew how evil she had been to them, masquerading as a wise leader who had broken their trust…

He softened his glare. She'd helped him after all, so she couldn't be totally irredeemable.

"So, I take it you'll be with the clan until winter." Niju waited for her to nod.

"Well, since you have been of such use to me thus far, I suppose I won't make you the omega I was planning on making you." He smugly smiled and jutted his chiseled chin out.

"Well," She interjected on his smugness. "I guess it's clearly not in my best interest to trust you with power until I leave then." She laid out a slight to match his own.

At this he rankled. Oh. The bitchy halfbreed was back. He knew she was trying to hide, but he always found her in the end with his words.

" You and I both know you were a pathetic excuse for a leader! Would you really endanger the clan you claim to love so? All your new friends?" His words dripped with bitter malcontent. "If you can even call them that…" He spat darkly, not forgetting her comment about the distrust of her position that spread through the pack.

"At least I have friends." Her own petty insult embarrassed her. Aleu felt her rage bubbling beneath the surface. He knew how to rile her so perfectly, she wondered if Aniu hadn't planned for her to lose her mind right here and right now.

"Careful, Mutt. I almost ended you before Daddy stepped in. We're on an icefloe again… Ironic." He took predatory steps. " Unlike you, I can do it again." He added a remark about her inability to swim back to the old lands once again. He prided himself with that clever retort.

"I thought last night you were all about saving m-" Just as she had taken a step forward to meet him in the middle the icefloe collapsed from beneath them with a resounding crack. Niju made a very discreditable yelp in surprise right along with Aleu's and they both went tumbling into the depths once more.

They scrabbled their way to the surface and stared wide eyed at each other for a few moments whilst coughing and sputtering. Oh. That again.

Niju finally found his words in response. " Yes… Yes I was. You are essential in establishing me into my rightful position." Niju had less trouble saying it this time, he was getting used to admitting this to her. They'd been over it a few times.

Aleu couldn't help but think 'Yeah, your rightful position as an omega.' But she got control of her emotion and kept her mouth gracefully shut.

As if he could read her thoughts he added, "As Alpha." to his last statement. He wasn't going to give her the chance to even attempt to jab at him.

As Aleu treaded water she rolled her eyes. So he was still playing that game. Oh well, she would let him. She had bigger fish to catch… Kinda.

" Well I'm going to return to the clan, I didn't come all this way to sit and argue with you in ice cold water." Aleu turned her back on him and swam off.

Niju wasn't happy with her superior tone. He was becoming less and less content with being stuck with her until winter. Maybe he should stop trying to redeem her in his mind until she actually transferred power over to him. At any rate, he really wanted to get out of this damn water, he really hated water. He blamed his father for that one.

Aleu gave another quiet sigh as the landmass become larger and larger on the horizon. Yes, it wouldn't be long now. She remembered how she and Papa used to swim for hours in the lake in the spring. She recalled his story of almost drowning in that lake when a bear attacked him. That was on his hero's quest. If only he could hear about all she'd done now. She ached to tell him and blow him away with all her stories about how grown up his "baby" was now.

She swam on with a few fleeting glances back at Niju until he caught up with her. He apparently saw no reason she should be in the lead when the way forward was so clear now, so he began to push ahead. Aleu ignored his attempts to dominate. She would be the bigger wolf here.

Aleu and Niju

The New Lands

Just as the all too familiar feeling of fatigue set in, Aleu finally dragged herself to shore. She'd missed Niju's first moments in his new home seeing as he was already catching his breath on the beach, having arrived before she did. She crawled out of the tide and onto the sand and brush covered part of the shore. Niju lay in the bushes next to her.

"So... We've made it." He panted, a little more incredulous than he'd meant to sound.

She stood and he made to stand too.

"Now I presume you will take me to the clan." He tried not to sound like a pup giddy with the excitement of growing his first adult incisors.

"I'm going to find something to eat first." Aleu avoided his gaze and turned to her surroundings instead.

Niju blinked. She. Was. Utterly. Intolerable. "What?" He stated, dangerously quiet.

"I've done that journey twice with little to nothing to eat, I'm so hungry- I might go as crazy as Sumac if I don't get something in my belly!" She added with a smile and began sniffing the ground.

Oh she'd get something in her belly alright… His teeth. She didn't even give him a second glance and yet she attempted to joke with him about someone he'd once called a minio- friend. He meant friend. He guessed her attempt at a lighter mood meant she wanted something from him. He sure as hell wasn't about to catch a deer for her.

But with a growling in his belly he couldn't help but follow her to see what she might turn up.

She soon smelled a familiar food. It wasn't much but it'd do. Clams. Digging with her paws she dug up a few buried in the sand. Her small but sturdy claws made quick practiced work of the shell and a gulp later it was on to the next clam. She disliked the wormy and slimy taste they provided, for she really had a taste for bigger game but it wasn't like she could catch any for herself.

Niju watched in disgust from the sidelines. She was a disgrace to Aniu, reduced to eating such lowly pickings. Perhaps he'd hunt for himself after all; he wouldn't be caught dead eating a clam.

"I can hear your stomach from over here… These are pretty good pickings here, Niju." She talked with her mouth adorably full, so it came out rather muffled. She was so hungry that she'd stuffed her plush cheeks to the brim with such unappetizing food.

"You're a disgrace to Aniu." Niju still looked on in utter distaste.

"Whatever. At least I'm not going to starve out of pride." She went on her merry way with the slippery clam meat.

"I'll just wait until you're done. Then I'll give you a demonstration of the prowess of a real hunter." Niju felt smugly above.

Aleu was beaming more than he was internally, though. She knew her plan had worked. She just hoped Niju wouldn't eat all of what he caught, she hoped he'd only have to show her once and then she'd be proficient enough to not need the aid of anyone anymore.

"Hmpph." She huffed, and made a show of eating a few more clams for effect. Only then did she swallow her mouthful with one last shudder and make her way over to him.

He was making his way towards the evergreens that lined the shore and fed into the mountainous forest that laid out the land before them. The mountain was very worn down and could be climbed in a few hours probably. He could see much higher ones with snow covered peaks further in the distance. He had a feeling he would be climbing this minor one later. The pack might be on the other side, most of the land was hidden from view behind it. It was short but impressively broad.

Aleu yipped as she stumbled over a stray root. In her effort to stalk into the forest as he did, she only seemed to make things worse. She could almost see Niju's eyes roll. Just as she thought she'd better pay closer attention to her footing, she crashed head first into Niju, effectively crunching her muzzle against his hip.

Okay…So apparently she'd failed to notice he'd stopped suddenly in her path.

"Hey! What're you doing?! Why'd you stop in the middle of th-" He ignored her collision and snapped his head toward her , cutting her short. "Shhh! be quiet, you fool!" She gave him a glare which he also took no notice of.

He lifted his head to his full height and took a powerful breath in through his large nostrils. He picked up her distracting and familiar scent, but moreover he smelled a moose calf. A calf would do very nicely, perfect place for a lone calf to be hiding too. Niju figured its mother must have abandoned it or perished because it was most definitely alone. He smelled no trace of another individual.

His proud demeanor had changed before Aleu's eyes into that of a lowly croucher. He looked somehow more deadly now, as he narrowed his eyes and crept forward. Aleu made her best effort keep up with his silent stalk, but fell short as she fumbled through the underbrush. She was nervous yet excited when she saw the prey for the first time, she couldn't help but stare. It seemed as if Niju has taken no notice of their young and vulnerable prey as it grazed unaware on the gradual slope.

"Niju there's the ca-" She had intended to whisper in the most silent of studious whispers, until he cut her off with a glare fit to turn her insides into the icy sea. She then understood how crucial this moment was when the calf abruptly stopped grazing to look straight at her.

Aleu held her breath and stayed stock still in the underbrush, she could see Niju was already edging closer totally undetected. For all the upfront rugged arrogance he possessed, it was odd to watch him stalk so masterfully. Aleu was beginning to feel some dread; the calf looked fairly healthy for having been prematurely orphaned, perhaps there was a better and more aged target. Of course a large moose would be almost impossible to fell without a pack. Aleu was increasingly feeling torn, ready to be independent, yet glad she didn't have to kill this one.

Niju was startlingly patient, until the moment was savagely shattered. Rushing forward with grace she didn't think possible, Niju was on the calf. Niju had gotten so close to the youngster that no chase was necessary. Aleu was close on Niju's tail, but she quickly turned away as the youngster struggled. Its throat was gripped between two massive jaws. His massive claws tore at the underbelly of the calf, and it struggled futilely.

Aleu waited for the killing blow, she waited for the sounds of hooves scuffling along the grasses to stop.

His voice in the middle of it all startled her. "Halfbreed, get over here!"

Angry at being ordered about like a subordinate she growled at him while she made her way over to the still struggling youngster. The calf was on its side and Niju was laying with it, its neck in his mouth.

"What Niju?!" She ordered irritably.

"Finish it."

Even though his voice was muffled by the downy fur of the calf, Aleu could make him out loud and clear. The very thing she dreaded, of course he demanded it of her.

"No…It's your kill, you finish it! "She wanted to sound merely confused, instead of how hesitant she really felt.

"Just as I thought…Weak, halfbreed…" He held the poor creature still- its blood began to stream down his chest.

"Niju, just do it! Can't you see it's suffering?! Stop it!" Aleu raved at him, not sure who she was angrier at, herself or him.

"I knew you didn't have it in you! Pathetic, you're a true disgr-" It was Aleu's turn to cut him off with a sudden fatal bite to the neck of the calf, effectively soaking them in warm blood.

Aleu was panting with exhilaration and looked over what she had just done. She'd done the most effective thing by ending the calf's suffering and shutting Niju up. She still found Niju actions intolerable. As she turned to glare at him she was shocked to find that he was already digging into the warm flesh.

Aleu had no quarrels with the taste of their prey now that it was all over, she sought to dig in on the other side of the carcass.

"Mmmf…I should have you know, this is very generous of me." Niju spoke while tearing shreds of flesh of from between the ribs. His face was a crimson mess now and Aleu's wasn't much better.

"Oh? Really…?" She spoke while she dug in further.

"This was my kill and I should eat first. But I figured the faster we eat, the sooner we get back to the pack." As soon as he finished speaking he went back to eating so ferociously that bits of meat were flying in all directions.

A bit of meat hit Aleu on the muzzle, she wrinkled in distaste at her eating partner- before proceeding to lick it into her own mouth.

" But I'm the one who killed it." Aleu quipped with her mouth full of meat.

Niju stopped to let out another obnoxious laugh. "Without me- you never would have even smelled it before scaring it off!" He resumed his beastly eating.

To this she didn't respond, she merely made a futile attempt to out-eat him until the carcass was all but stripped. That was a lucky kill, a nice bit of meat for a minimal effort. Very lucky indeed, hunting was usually a very dangerous affair for both hunter and hunted.

Aleu had filled herself up a good amount, but didn't feel gorged. Niju was satisfied for now. They left for the pack in better spirits.