A Myth Re-Born
A crisp fall morning greeted Lilly as she exited her den into the sunlight. Leaves floated slowly to the ground and a light wind blew through her fur. Although it seemed warm enough to be summer Lilly could sense that the first snowfall would come quickly. Kate had always told her to not only just see the forest but feel it also. Feel it breathe and move like a living animal and let it take over your senses.
"Become one with it Lilly." Kate's voice echoed in the back of Lilly's head.
Shaking her head Lilly attempted to dispel any thoughts of her sister. They only reopened the wounds that were not fully healed. Instead Lilly focused her attention on finding out what happened to Humphrey. Her stomach suddenly growled thunderously. But that would have to wait, breakfast was first on the Omega's to do list.
As she made her way to the hunting grounds Lilly spotted a mangled carcass laying in the middle of the path.
What happened here, Lilly thought to herself. She figured it must have been a doe on account of it's size and lack of antlers. Blood covered it's coat and was caked up around the wound on its neck. The limbs were a mess, skewed in unnatural positions. She flipped the body over with her nose and discovered that it was completely intact besides the huge piece missing from the neck.
"What a waste." she whispered to herself.
Refusing to eat the doe Lilly drug it off the path and into the bushes before continuing on her way. Trotting along now at a steady pace Lilly let her mind off the hook. She was dying to answer one question that burned in her mind, what happened to Humphrey? The image of him lying there unconscious on the ground still was freshly emblazoned in her minds eye. Absolute madness! She thought. First Kate and Garth leave then the reapers appear seemingly out of no where and take Connor's life plus to top it all off now Humphrey was potentially dead. Madness! It seemed like nothing was going right. Lilly just wished it could go back to the way things were, back when nothing was different. She was beginning to think about Garth more and more these days. Lilly wasn't exactly sure if she still had feelings for him, he did after all run off with Kate. Still something was there though deep in her heart untouched by the cancerous feeling betrayal. It left her heart cold and empty. But she couldn't just blame Garth, sure he made the decision but Kate was the one that went along with it and let it happen. Lilly would give anything to be there that night, to look him in the eyes and ask him why.
"Well hello there!" Sage's musical voice jostled her thoughts back to the present.
"Oh hey Sa-" was all Lilly said before unsuspectingly slamming into a tree.
"Lilly!" Sage yelled sprinting over to her.
Embarrassed Lilly quickly stood up and brushed herself off.
"Okay." Lilly began. "For the record you didn't see that just happen."
"See what?" Sage asked laughing.
"Exactly." Lilly replied instantly.
"So where are you off too?" Sage inquired as Lilly picked pieces of bark out of her fur.
"To find some breakfast." Lilly said through a mouthful of her white hair. "How about you?"
"Your dad sent me to fetch Humphrey, apparently he needs to talk to him." Sage said with a yawn. "Although I'd rather be I'm bed right now."
"Humphrey's alright?" Lilly questioned excitedly.
"Yup." Sage replied as he stood. "He's a friend of yours right?"
Lilly nodded and got to her feet as well. "I'm coming with you."
"No you can't you haven't eaten yet." Sage protested.
"I'm not hungry any more." Lilly proclaimed but as if on cue her stomach let a long growl.
"Look, I'll bring Humphrey around when were done with Winston." Sage promised with smile. "Okay?"
"Alright but I'm going to hold it against ya if you don't." Lilly growled not amused by his logic.
"Wow, you guys must be really good friends." Sage let out a chuckle. He sprinted off in the direction of Humphrey's den while calling over his shoulder. "And FYI you don't scare me!"
Lilly shook her head in disapproval and set off for the hunting grounds.
A cold chill ran up and down Humphrey's spine as he woke from his restless sleep. He had lost count of how many times he had woken up throughout the night. Each time his eyes would open and there would he flashes of light and standing in his den was a wolf that shone a bright golden light. He didn't know who it was but he felt it radiating with energy and heat. Every time Humphrey would call out to it but he would receive no answer, it just stood there watching him. The face was near impossible for him to make out but it felt as if it was familiar to him in a way, yet he couldn't figure out why. Now that he was awake Humphrey was rubbing the sleep from his eyes in an attempt to wake up his body, which was still sluggish.
"Hello?" an unfamiliar voice echoed through his den.
"Come in." Humphrey answered.
The same wolf Humphrey had seen with Lilly yesterday poked his head through the door.
"Morning Humphrey." He said in a bright tone.
"Who are you?" Humphrey asked suspiciously.
"Ah where are my manners? I'm Sage, second class Alpha from Mckinley Pack." The red wolf asserted
"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Humphrey, Uh. . .Omega, First class." Humphrey replied not sure of what to call himself.
"Hmm, never heard of that rank before. Must be new." Sage noted. "Anyway, Winston sent me to come get you."
Humphrey nodded and followed Sage out into the morning light.
"Are you good to run?" Sage asked.
"Yeah I think so." Humphrey said back.
"Well then let's go! We're burning day light!" Sage declared taking off at a steady lope. Humphrey sprinted immediately after him trying to catch up.
When he arrived at Winston's den Humphrey had beaten Sage and wasn't even beginning to break a sweat.
"Whoa, I'm out of shape." Sage panted.
"Speak for yourself, I say we do it again." Humphrey said pleased with his ability to out run a second class Alpha, whatever that was.
"Well buddy you're one fit Omega I bet none of them in my pack could run even a quarter of that." Sage said between breaths.
"Humphrey!" Winston called as he made his way towards the two wolves. Sage was able to catch his breath and stand up right by the time Winston reached them.
"Sage if you wouldn't mind I'd like to speak with Humphrey alone for a minute." Winston asked politely.
"Absolutely sir." Sage said obediently. "Anything else you need me to do?"
"Yes actually, I need you to find your squad and bring them back here. We're going to introduce them to your newest member." Winston ordered.
Sage nodded. "Consider it done."
Winston tilted his head in acknowledgement and Sage left.
"How are you feeling?" Winston asked turning to Humphrey.
"Surprisingly good now that I'm awake." Humphrey replied confidently.
"Good." Winston smiled, which was a good change from his seriousness of the previous night. "Now I'm sure you're wondering what happened yesterday."
Humphrey nodded excessively. "Some strange things have been happening to me." Humphrey recounted his incident with the doe.
"Then its just as I thought, Humphrey are you familiar with the lore of our ancestors?" Winston questioned.
"Not too much. Just what I've been told at Omega school." Humphrey answered sheepishly. "Other than that nothing."
"Tell me what you know." Winston requested.
"Well." Humphrey began. "I know that in a time before our time, our ancestors were on the brink of a massive war, a war that would cause unspeakable grief and suffering. I think it was caused by the Omegas who were being oppressed by the Alphas. How am I doing so far?"
"Spot on." Winston chuckled.
Humphrey continued. "Now seeking help the Omegas prayed to their gods and begged for salvation. The gods granted two ordinary Omegas extraordinary abilities. I believe their names were Sebastian and Nadia. Each was given a specific set of "powers". Sebastian was given the strength of 1000 Alphas, the ability to move faster than any other wolf alive and extremely heightened senses, while Nadia was given the power to see wolves' thoughts and predict their actions. They were dubbed "The Chosen Ones. Anyhow, the Omegas now had a secret weapon against the Alphas and they used it well. Within a year the Omegas had successfully revolted against the Alphas and were now free, A fairly text book happy ending if I do say so myself." Humphrey finished.
"Very true and we are all descendants of those brave Omegas, now we just use the term Alpha to distinguish our warriors." Winston verified. "But you are forgetting a very important piece of information."
"What's that sir?" Humphrey asked curiously.
"To appease the gods and grant Nadia and Sebastian their powers an Omega warrior had to sacrifice his or herself to the enemy to save the pack." Winston said grimly.
The truth began to slowly dawn on Humphrey. "Wait. No, you seriously can't be. . .It's all a myth. Isn't it?" Humphrey stammered.
"It's more real than you think. Before Connor died he said he would rather be killed than betray his own pack right?" Winston asked. Humphrey nodded slowly.
"Then in effect he declared himself a part of our pack before he was killed." Winston pointed out.
"So what you're trying to say is. . ." Humphrey started.
"You are A Chosen One." Winston finished.
WHOA! Didn't see that one coming did you?
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