Aleu

Plains to Low Cliffs

Aleu slowed her pace as she came to the edge of the clan's territory marks. This area had become known as "the low lying cliffs" to clan-members, even though it was far from high enough to be called "cliffs" at any point. It was on was here that Quisp could nearly always be found.

In a dark coat with deep mahogany undertones a lone female was sitting on a rocky outcrop that faced the expansive valley of plains. Quisp was just ahead of her, as Aleu expected she would be. The outcropping afforded Qusip quite the view of happenings in the valley. Broken Horn had always kept the herd just outside of her sight, but Aleu knew that may be subject to change now. Grinning, Aleu ran to Quisp with restored exuberance.

Qusip could easily be Aleu's favorite and most trusted clan member. Aleu thought Quisp so wise that she even asked her to lead once, in a fit of desperation. Quisp declined her offer stating that she didn't want the crushing responsibility and stress of being a leader. Aleu also suspected that Quisp was much too humble to ever accept such a position. It was a pity Quisp was not a bit younger; she might've given Niju a run for his money as future leader. Come to think of it… Did she trust Niju as much as she could trust Quisp? Perhaps that wasn't a question she wanted answered.

"Quisp! Hey Quisp!" Aleu had to catch her breath for a moment. "I've got some great news!" She could barely contain herself.

The older female quickly turned towards the sound of Aleu's voice. "Aleu? Oh! You've come back to us after all!" Quisp had a motherly soft voice and eyes that emulated a downy bed of lichen. Quisp was the clear vision of reassurance. "You were gone for weeks, this time with no warning… I worried for you."

Aleu nodded. "I'm sorry for being gone so long. I just needed to figure some stuff out I guess." She felt a slight pang of guilt inside, but with Niju being exiled she knew she couldn't tell Quisp where she was or what she'd been doing all that time.

Quisp gave Aleu a bit of a side eye, as if she knew there was more to it than that. "I see."

Aleu was about to explode with her happy tidings when she spotted the tail of a female by the name of Sarnai. Sarnai was, in a sense, Quisp's younger and shyer understudy. "Hey Sarnai! Come hear this!"

Slightly startled, Sarnai jumped at the voice and immediately climbed to Aleu and Quisp's level on the outcropping. "Aleu! Oh I'm so glad nothing bad h-"

Quisp cut her off, a rare moment in their near perfect friendship. "Hold on! Aleu was just about to say something..."

Aleu grinned. "Yes! It's finally happened!" In her excitement she didn't realize they might not have the faintest clue what she meant by that.

Sarnai wrinkled her nose. "That's great," She looked to Quisp for answers, to no avail. "I guess…?" She was more confused than ever.

Quisp was a fair bit more understanding. "What exactly is it that happened, Aleu?" Her warm voice made Aleu realize her mistake nonetheless.

"I finally brought down the bull- Broken Horn." She dropped it on them.

" What?!" They said in unison as they exchanged looks of shock and wonder.

Aleu couldn't help her proud grin and victorious nod. "That's right! He lies in the valley- waiting for the clan to feast upon him. I know you haven't tasted caribou flesh in quite some time, and I know I haven't been fulfilling my duties to the clan in any regard. It's time for me to step up and start contributing."

"But it was…Broken Horn! How did you ever…" Quisp regarded her with awe.

"It was a fight and not an easy one. But I can tell that story after we eat! You guys can tell the whole clan to come down. As long as the scent is fresh they can find it, right?"

Quisp nodded and turned towards the direction of the clan's primary territory, the happy expression on her face made the past month's grueling efforts all worth it. Sarnai began to follow her with glee. They'd started the rocky climb down when Aleu suddenly remembered.

"Tell everyone except the elders. Just…Leave those guys to me." Aleu would deal with them later.

Quisp and Sarnai looked at each other, both understanding what she meant by that. Perhaps the clan deserved most of this meal, and the elders would take their overdue turn at eating the scraps this time.

"Fine by me." Quisp looked from Aleu to her companion.

"Mhm." With a curt nod Sarnai descended, leaving Quisp to stare at Aleu.

"I knew you'd come back to us. Everyone will be quite pleased. I don't like to admit my frustrations with the elders but… I agree with your decision on not informing them before the clan has their fair share. That's not the hesitant Aleu I knew previously. I am pleased to see you taking some initiative again." Quisp gave her another warm smile before turning and following Sarnai's path down into the tree line behind them.

Aleu knew Quisp threw in that "again" probably because she was far too kind to say "for once in your life." Aleu hadn't mentioned that it was in fact Niju who came up with that detail in the plan. Oh well. Aleu figured it was probably for the best that she let that detail slide.

Sarnai and Quisp split up to inform the rest of the clan, while Aleu followed her own path towards the plains once more. She knew the elders would not venture from the depths of their cave unless specially summoned, and they'd demand to have their food brought to them.

When Aleu returned to the kill site, Niju was nowhere to be found. But the place wasn't vacant for long as Quisp soon approached with some followers. They were then closely followed by Sarnai and her group. There were still many members missing when they began eating. It was only when Quisp's son Anaru showed up that the rest of the clan seemed to appear. Yak, Nuk and Sumac were trailing behind everyone else.

The meal thus far was surprisingly quiet and peaceful. Everyone knew there might not be enough for everyone to eat their fill, but something was certainly better than nothing. The members that were in better shape after the past rough few seasons soon dispersed in silent gratitude. However, some members chose to linger, perhaps these were the members who had waited longest to see a good meal.

Everyone still seemed to be under the trance of fresh meat until Yak was suddenly taken by thought mid-bite. "But Aleu, what about the Elders?"

Sumac followed. "Yeah, what abouts them?"

But Nuk didn't seem to share their concern. "Eh, who cares? More for us."

"We should care! Where would we be without them?" An older gray coated male by the name of Ikun sought to argue.

"...Yeah and look where we are with them." The voice of Yuli was hushed and full dry wit. Yuli often countered her father's arguments in this way. All Yuli received from her father was a harsh glare.

Aleu waited for the giggling of Yuli's cousin Oki to stop before she spoke. "The elders will get some; they just don't get it first this time. Everyone has been trying to feed themselves as well as bring them food. Under the circumstances, I thought it was a bit unfair to the rest of the clan." She glanced over at Ikun warily.

Nuk, Yak and Sumac exchanged glances. They came up with various versions of agreement along the lines of "Oh yeah, I guess that isn't very fair."

Much to Aleu's surprise, Ikun decided to agree with her. He looked as though he just realized he'd been taken for a fool. "That's an outrage! They'd use us as a crutch to survive- it's absolute madness!"

Yuli could only roll her eyes at her father's near comical jump to conclusions. Aleu decided to cut him off before he could spout off anymore. "When you're finished would you mind ripping off some for the elders?" That seemed to bring Ikun back to the reality of a good meal and quieted him to Aleu's satisfaction.

The small group exchanged glances and began to strip off the last remnants of Broken Horn before they started back towards the elder's Cliffside cave. The air was heavy with the unspoken question of how Aleu could have killed a bull as great as Broken Horn. Aleu had yet to speak about it; she kept putting off the tale-telling for a later time.

After arriving in the gorge Aleu looked up to see the elders outside of their cave. This was a surprise indeed! They were all reclining by the entrance- seemingly waiting for her. Aleu and the group climbed the short distance to the cave before she was greeted by the most agreeable of the elders- Artok.

"So I hear you bring us food?" He smiled and turned to his two companions, who did not share his tender expression. Siluk and Ulva were as sour as ever.

"Why yes! Er- How'd you know that?" Aleu set the meat down before the trio, as the others had done before they dispersed a safe distance away. Aleu could feel them watching the conversation unfold eagerly, but somehow she felt they weren't the only ones.

"My granddaughter Miksa told us you'd caught something for the clan before she ran off to eat… She failed to mention how you'd intended to keep it a secret from us." Ulva didn't move from her horizontal position as she bitterly spoke.

"No! That was not my intention at all!" Aleu nudged the meat closer to them in a peace offering. Artok looked as if he was about to take some, but Siluk and Ulva glared daggers at him until he thought better of it.

Aleu could hear Sumac mutter in the background "Well actually it kinda was-" Nuk's paw to the head shut him up.

"What else were we to think? The entire clan goes to feast without us and you bring us this meager portion?" Siluk demanded in anger.

This wasn't quite going how Aleu had wanted but she saw hope in the softening of Ulva's eyes as she glanced at the meat.

"Oh, this is the meat of Broken Horn isn't it?" The elderly female examined the meat and turned it in her paws for closer inspection. "You are better educated in the old-ways than I'd thought."

Ha! Now she was getting somewhere. Aleu nodded brightly as the elderly trio sampled the meat. Amidst her joy she thought she'd seen movement on the ledge above them, but a quick onceover revealed no trace of anything…Almost. But that reminded her.

"Elders I have brought you this offering of meat from the felled bull for a reason, watching everyone feast on him today has brought something to my attention, and it is time I acted on it. I'm not saying you're unfit to lead but perhaps you might consider-" She was speaking in a reasonably confident tone before Ulva interrupted her.

"You've done very well but you have yet to do as we asked."

"I…what?" All that confidence was now lost.

"You have yet to lead your brothers and sisters in hunts." Siluk supplied.

"Being a leader isn't just about being the one who does it all- it's about careful planning and coordination between others. It's about knowing how to organize members and use their abilities to make the clan work together as one, Aleu." Artok finished it.

Apparently this was something the elders seemed to have discussed in the past. How they would test and weigh Aleu's ability to lead, never mind their own shortcomings. They hadn't even let her finish her attempt to reclaim her old title. Aleu couldn't manage to come up with an immediate response to their refusal to give up leadership without betraying her outrage. Their small audience waited with baited breath for Aleu's reaction. Aleu narrowed her eyes as she looked up and made up her mind.

She knew he was there. She spotted him lurking on the rocky ledge above, dark and distinct. There were times when she thought she'd seen a shadowy figure darting from rock to rock when she first entered the gorge, but now she was sure of it. Her decision was impulsive and final.

"You want to know the truth about cooperation, Artok? Look there!" Aleu jerked her head upwards to give away Niju's hidden vantage point above them.

The elders were so shocked by Niju's sudden appearance that they had no time to be offended by Aleu's forceful use of tone. The rest of the clan members in attendance also fell into a silent shock.

As if sensing what Aleu had done, Niju seemed to vanish from sight. But it mattered not; the 3 elders had seen him without doubt as to who they were looking at. The quiet whispers that had begun were silenced as Aleu began to speak once more.

"Yes, that's Niju. It was our cooperation that killed Broken Horn." Aleu spoke with unfamiliar certainty in her voice.

Niju reappeared about 9 feet above where Aleu stood. He was silent and his expression was unreadable as Aleu regarded him.

"I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him… I couldn't call myself a wolf. Without him, Broken Horn's herd would remain untouchable." Aleu offered her counterpart a slight grin.

"Impossible- there is no scent of Niju anywhere on this meat!" Ulva looked both angered and astounded simultaneously.

The rest of the clan members whispered rampantly amongst themselves. It was true; there was no scent of Niju on the carcass.

"No there isn't, but don't you get it? I might have landed the killing blow but without Niju's assistance Broken Horn would have escaped me. We worked together to fell the bull just like we worked together to find a better way to survive as a clan! You must understand that I know exactly what it's like to combine forces for the greater good."

Utterly floored, it was now the elder's turn to whisper harshly amongst themselves. Aleu tried her best to make out distinct phrases, she inched forwards.

She thought she heard Artok utter the words "Not here." Before Siluk's craggy voice sounded "Leave us!"

The hushed whispers of the elders retreated into the damp dimness of the cave. Whatever they were discussing she guessed it was of terrible importance and confidential. She knew it was probably about the reappearance of Niju and her position in the clan. She so badly wanted to hear what it was about that she made steps to follow them. It was Niju's voice that stopped her.

"Why did you do that?"

Startled, Aleu whipped around to find that Niju had descended from his perch and the other members were silently looking on.

"Because it felt right. It needed to be done." Aleu still sounded completely certain of her own actions.

The onlookers seemed to suddenly realize that this wasn't some sort of trick, Aleu and Niju really had been working together. This meant everything Aleu had shared with them was true- almost unbelievable, but true. The questions soon began pouring out of the onlookers like floodwater.

Aleu tried to answer as many of her fellow clan members as she could. "Yes, yes he's been helping me all this time. We could put aside our differences for the common good… No, we never abandoned hope. Yes, I'm still in my right mind."

Niju was having his own fair share of bombardment. "No, we're not going to kill the elders. I have only ever tried to help this pack! Of course I would never hurt Nav-"

Aleu's soft voice somehow managed to drown out Niju's offended roar. A hush fell over the entire cluster. "Nava… is gone."

"What?" The voice of Kavik cut through the somber silence. Kavik was usually a cautious and wise male; he was immensely fond of Nava. Aleu remembered Kavik as the brown wolf who helped her gather the clan to cross the ice bridge. It hurt her to hear the pain and disbelief in his voice, and she knew the rest of the members likely shared that sentiment.

"There was a great burning of our old lands; Nava was unable to escape it." Aleu dipped her head in respectful thought of the great leader.

"But are you sure?" An anonymous voice inquired.

Niju thought about his time with the old wolf, as he had been doing quite often these days. "Yes, I'm sure. I was with Nava in his last days. He'd grown so sick and frail; he couldn't have escaped quickly enough. We couldn't save him before the fire engulfed the forest." Niju's expression softened slightly.

"Do you believe that, Aleu?" The skeptical voice of Ikun was back.

"Yes, I do." Aleu never doubted her beliefs for a second.

"What about Broken Horn? How'd you manage that?" Ikun's nephew Oki spoke up. He was rarely ever serious, but he seemed to be having a rare moment of mindfulness.

Aleu glanced at Niju and gave him a telling-grin. "Now that's a story indeed!"

However before she could get much further she found herself interrupted again, this time by Yak. "What about everybody else? I'm sure they wanta hear about it!" He looked at Nuk and Sumac for agreement; however he found that they weren't paying him any attention.

Niju seemed to cock a brow at this. "And when exactly did you start caring about what everyone else wants to hear?" Niju's sneer and Yak's sudden look of cluelessness made it evident that this was perhaps a running joke between the two. The thought of Niju indulging in the simple pleasures friendship caused Aleu to giggle under her breath.

"Well alright then, we can go to the outcropping and we'll tell it to everyone," Aleu spoke above the light uproar that started when she declared their departure. "Will someone make sure to get Quisp? I know she was really wanted to hear it. I know you're all so eager, but trust me it's worth the wait!"

Everyone began to file their way down from the cliffs and headed off in their different directions. Aleu hung towards the back as everyone passed her on the way down. She hadn't forgotten about the conversation with the elders that had taken place earlier.

"Let them have their secret discussions Aleu. We don't need their approval for our survival. They speak about things they don't understand." It seemed that Niju had also stayed behind. She had expected him to go with Yak, Nuk and Sumac.

"What is it they talk about? I mean I guessed it was about me and the hunts but it seemed so much...Heavier than that." Aleu regarded Niju carefully. He seemed lost in his thoughts yet again. He seemed to be in conflict about something, Aleu wished he'd just spit it out. She was almost startled when a howl broke the silence, the clan was beginning to gather at the outcropping on the plains.

"It doesn't matter, leave them. The clan is waiting for us."Niju sounded impatient.

Aleu gave the cave entrance one final glance before following Niju. This was a night of rejoicing and new beginnings, no use hanging around here. She had a mighty tale to tell of how she'd gotten to this point with Niju as her unwitting companion… Yes, the elders could certainly wait. Aleu was quite young still but she'd learned to temper fate with patience. All would be known when it needed to be, she'd wait it out. She could worry about the future of the clan and Niju later, for now she knew what she needed to do to keep the clan thriving. Though her place in the clan seemed to be in some sort of limbo, she was comfortable with her decisions today.

They departed together.

[A/N: There's a lot of names being thrown around here so if you need a point of reference my DA has a semi full list excluding a few specials. :]