Hey again, my fellow readers! I'm back with yet another chapter. As you might've guessed from the time taken to put this up, uni life is quite the challenge, especially when you've done stage plays and tons of assignments.

I probably won't be writing anything till mid-November, right after my exams are done with. The good news, however, is that I'm still able to upload this as an early Halloween gift to all my readers, and I hope you'll continue to read and love it as much as I had fun writing this very fluffy, yet mysterious chapter.

Happy Samhain! (that's Celtic for All Hallow's Eve)

Chapter 4: Return to the Pack

Nobody said a word as the three chipmunks (now four) and their caretaker stared with widened eyes from one brother to the next. In fact, no words were available right now in any vocabulary to describe this awkward moment where all of their senses failed them completely.

But it was a name that finally broke the silence.

"Phelan!"

There was absolute joy written across the wolf-like chipmunk's face as he leapt into his brothers' arms. The sound of tears and laughter now rolled into one, and it was by far the loveliest melody Phelan had ever heard, because it was one he could share with his reunited family.

"Alvin! Simon! Theo! Dave! I missed you guys!" Phelan was beaming from both tufted ears as he wrapped himself around Dave's embrace, basking in the warmth of long-lost fatherly love.

"I missed you too," Dave smiled, brushing away a tear. Welcome home, Phelan."

As Phelan stepped into the living room, he let his feet dig deep into the soft carpet, running every inch of his toes along the lush and fluffy material. Everything looked and felt just the same as it had before he left.

"I can't believe it. I'm really home," Phelan said, wagging his tail.

"Of course you are, buddy," said Alvin, putting an arm around Phelan's shoulder. "Plus, you sure know how to make an entrance."

"Hmm?"

"You may not be the ideal prankster, but I can see how you and Alvin get along very well," Simon said, readjusting his glasses. "We had no idea you were making a comeback, not even with the earthquake that spooked us out a little."

"Yeah, that was scary!" Theodore piped in.

"What earthquake?" Phelan's smile faded a little.

"You know, the one where the ground shook under our feet. Why's that, Phelan? Is something wrong?" asked Alvin, seeing the look on Phelan's face turn into a worried frown.

"I didn't make the earth move. It's not possible – I always travel by shadows. Next to light speed, it's the fastest way to go. And it doesn't leave behind any after-effects, so I can't be traced."

"Well, there was an earthquake that happened for about five minutes or so," explained Dave. "Thankfully, no one got hurt."

Everybody watched as Phelan immediately went into the hunter's crouch, baring his teeth. He then stood on his toes, lifting his nose skyward as he sniffed the air while his tail remained as still as a radar, trying to pick up the slightest of remaining vibrations.

Phelan thumped the floor with his paws, listening intently before he gave the all-clear sign. "You're right. There was an earthquake, but from the slight tremors I picked up from the earth's crust, it happened almost half a minute before I reached your doorstep. So there's no way I could've caused any natural disasters," he concluded, folding his arms.

"How on earth could you detect that?" asked Simon, ever the inquisitive one. "Oh right, I almost forgot about your enhanced senses."

Phelan shrugged. "Nature's instincts, I guess." Of course, I had my powers of the dark to assist me with that.

"Well, that settles it, you're definitely innocent," Alvin wrinkled his nose. "But I don't think you can escape the next question, Phelan."

"And what's that?"

"Why do you smell like a wet dog?"

"Alvin!" Simon hissed as he nudged his red-clad brother in the ribs, but Phelan was already lifting up both his arms while he gave his trench coat a thorough sniffing.

"I am a wet dog," Phelan pointed out. "Well, sort of."

It wasn't until he saw the looks of confusion and blank stares from Dave and his brothers that Phelan realized he'd almost crossed the line.

Those who were aware of his reputation knew of course about the dark past in the pages of his life, as well as his former allegiances to the Darkness. After all, things like these usually came in packages. But nobody – not even the Sevilles or the Millers whom he grew much attached to – knew the truth about his heritage, his birthright or his origins.

One could even say it was quite literal that his bloodline ran deep with the wolves.

Out of the many secrets Phelan held close to his chest, he played his card game all too well, and this was one of the remaining few he wasn't ready to let go. It was every bit as precious as a warm heartbeat.

"Er... whoops! What I meant to say was you're right!" Phelan blushed, waving his paws frantically. "Yeah, I do smell bad. Guess I'll just run up to the bathroom now, should I?"

"That's alright, Phelan. You need to sit back and relax after a long hard journey; you've really earned it," reassured Dave. "In fact, why don't you give me your trench coat now? I'll just put it in the laundry and you can have it back tomorrow, okay?"

As Phelan took off the only piece of clothing on his back, a slight breeze ruffled his chest as it came into plain view. But he was lucky enough to have a family of chipmunks; especially Theodore, who he knew to be naive and most impressionable of the lot; to have gotten use to seeing his battle scars adorn those bare patches where mahogany-brown fur once used to grow.

"What happened to your coat, Phelan?"

The wolf-like chipmunk could almost feel his heart skip a beat as he watched Dave put a hand through the bottom right of his trench coat. There was a cut in the fabric that stretched in a long, diagonal line from the bottom of his sleeve to where his waist would've been.

"Oh, I was walking through one of those dark forests the other night and got my coat caught in a pile of brambles," Phelan said, his eyes wandering shiftily. "I must've torn it right through the branches, but I don't think I cut myself."

"Never mind," said Dave. "I'll wash it anyway, and then take it over to Miss Miller. She helps the boys out with any sewing problems, so I'm sure she can fix up your coat as good as new."

Even if Dave's suggestions hadn't saved Phelan by the bell, another growling – much louder than Phelan's – caused everybody to jump in shock.

"Woah, what the heck was that?" asked Alvin.

They all looked at Phelan's belly as it almost came to life, rumbling and growling with every passing minute.

"I... guess that's my stomach."

All five of them immediately burst into laughter, and even the pangs of Phelan's hunger were forgotten for a moment, his belly stuffed with the happiness and joy he hadn't experienced in a long time.

"Come on!" Theodore said as he dragged Phelan into the kitchen. "You're just in time for dessert! I even made your favourite – chocolate brownies!"

Dave placed a jug of cool lemonade next to the plate of brownies awaiting Phelan's appetite. They sat patiently, watching as the half-naked chipmunk, true to his nature, wolfed down every last crumb with great gusto, his cheeks stuffed with brownies.

Phelan paused, staring back at them with a face like a stuffed turkey.

"Oh, Imshorry," mumbled Phelan before swallowing his mouthful. "That was very rude of me, wasn't it?"

"Not at all," smiled Theodore. "I'm always happy to see someone who likes my cooking. Besides, it's obvious that you haven't had a good home-cooked meal in a long while."

"You bet!" said Phelan.

"So, my adventurous free-spirited brother," said Alvin, who was seated next to him, "tell us, where have you been all this while?"

Phelan was about to wipe his mouth with his arm when Simon handed him a napkin.

"Not to worry, Si. I haven't forgotten all of my manners yet," the mahogany-brown furred chipmunk chuckled, patting his lips.

The Sevilles gathered closer, waiting for the storyteller of the night to weave his words. Not wanting to keep them any longer, Phelan cleared his throat.

"So, to the matter of my travels. Well, I suppose you could call it a journey, more or less, because I've been clearing out the forces of evil, picking up traces of the Darkness left behind."

"But didn't you get to travel around the world?" asked Dave.

"I don't think I even left the country," Phelan said. "Everywhere I turned, there was evil lurking behind every corner."

He savoured the moment by taking a gulp of Dave's lemonade, to which Simon decided to probe even further. "Where did your ventures lead you to then?"

"There was a haunted house," continued Phelan, "where the rumours was that some troubled spirit lived there and took on the appearance of whatever frightened unwelcome visitors. When I arrived to spend a night, the spirit came to me alright, in the form of the Darkness. You know, just like that time when he possessed me on Halloween?"

Though Alvin and his brothers nodded as calmly as possible, yet deep down inside, they could not shake off the memory that clouded their thoughts like the darkest night.

"Not to worry, guys. We settled it with a good old warrior's dispute," Phelan said, clenching his paws into fists and punching the air. "Hopefully it'll think twice before deciding to come back and haunt another visitor.

"Then there was this guy – Ian something or other; I don't remember. After he pulled a few strings and appointed himself President of Blah, his first decree was to eliminate every single talking animal in the district. To put a long story short, I rounded up whatever forest friends I could find and started a rebellion that exposed him for the fraud he was. He lost his job and all credibility, and we were finally able to tear down that stupid decree of his. Viva la forest friends!"

The Chipmunks gave a thunderous applause as they cheered hard while Phelan took a playful bow.

"Thank you, thank you," the wolf-like chipmunk smiled.

It was later in the night when Dave told the Chipmunks to get themselves ready for bed. Phelan, who had already washed and cleaned himself properly, was now dressed in his favourite yellow jumpsuit and rolling around on his bed like a puppy, full of vigorous energy and happiness.

"Gosh, I've really missed the feeling of a soft bed under my fur!" the wolf-like chipmunk sighed in relief, not caring that his brothers were revelling in his silly antics.

"You miss having a bed? We missed the idea of having you around the house telling us what to do!" said Alvin, throwing himself into Phelan. The two brothers tumbled and rolled into each other, eager to commence a play-fight, that in the end, Phelan emerged victorious as he pinned Alvin to the bed, licking his cheek.

"Eew! Geroff me!" the red-clad chipmunk mumbled. It took the combined efforts of Simon and Theodore to pull apart the roughhousing chipmunks, but all four of them collapsed onto Phelan's bed, laughing with such merriment that hadn't filled the house for a long while.

"Phelan, if I may, I think there's something you're hiding from us," Simon said, peering through his glasses.

"What d'you mean? I've told you everything about myself since I left," said Phelan, feeling quite truthful to himself.

"You've not been completely honest with us, you know."

"Aw, come on. I can't hide anything from you guys. Remember what happened the last time I tried to keep my secrets hidden?" All eyes were fixed upon Alvin as Phelan made his point. "I nearly tore this family apart because of my selfishness, and I won't make that same mistake again."

"We believe you, Phelan, but there's something you can't wiggle your way out of," Simon said, holding up the wolf-like chipmunk's musty-smelling trench coat.

"When I took your coat to the laundry, I noticed the length of the tear that ran from your sleeve down to the waistline. Now judging from your story, you said that you got caught in a bramble patch and ripped the fabric. But it's far too neat, and too long in fact, to get a scratch like this from a pile of thorns," Simon commented, running his paw through the tear and wiggling his fingers to illustrate.

"In fact, I think this was made by a sharp object; a knife perhaps, or something even longer. If I'm not mistaken..." There was a moment's silence as the blue-clad chipmunk cleared his throat, enhancing the suspense with the conclusion he was about to make.

"You were attacked by someone, am I right?"

There was no use hiding anything from a chipmunk as studious as Simon, and even Phelan knew better as he raised his paws in defeat.

"Good guess, Sherlock. You win," he smiled, no traces of sarcasm in his voice whatsoever.

"But why didn't you tell us?" Theodore asked, sadness glimmering through his green eyes.

"I'm sorry, Theo. But I didn't want Dave to get all worried about me, and then you'd get all worried too. I'm a big chipmunk now, and I know the dangers that await me on a job like this."

Phelan lifted his shirt to reveal where the cut should have been on the side of his belly, but all that was left was a thin red scar, already half covered by the growing fur. "The most important thing is that I got away safely, isn't it?"

"Still, you're a part of our family now, and we have every right to be concerned about you," Simon said. "If you won't tell Dave, at least let us know what's happened. It'll be our secret, okay? We won't let one word slip across to Dave, alright?"

Both Alvin and Theodore nodded at Simon's suggestion.

As fast as two minutes could spare him, Phelan told them about the discovery he made whilst returning home: how he was positive that a source of the Darkness was lurking deep within the mysterious forest. How he almost fell into a trap where the eccentric Rhodas led him off guard, and how they battled it out before Phelan won his utmost respect.

By the time Phelan had gotten up to the point of Rhodas's offer, Alvin's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Do you know what this means?"

"What?" asked Phelan, to which the red-clad chipmunk slammed a fist into his paw, causing the others to jump in shock.

"Our world is full of talking chipmunks besides us and the Chipettes! And there might even be an army of chipmunk ninjas too!"

Phelan was the only one to chuckle at Alvin's hypothesis.

"Talking chipmunks, possibly. Ninjas, perhaps not."

"You said this Rhodas mentioned something about an arch?" Simon pointed out. "What was he going on about?"

The wolf-like chipmunk crossed his legs with utmost calmness and cleared his throat.

"Apparently, I've heard rumours about the formation of an organization during my absence. They're a group of warriors who call themselves The Black Arch, since they're skilled in the gifts of the darkness. If Rhodas is telling the truth, then there's a bunch of misfits running around trying to set things right for themselves and to establish a sense of new order in our world."

There was a series of gasps that left the Sevilles' mouths hanging agape.

"But aren't they looking up to you as an example?" For a moment there, Theodore appeared more matured than his years. "How can that possibly be a bad thing?"

"It's not, Theo," Phelan smiled as he patted his brother on the back. "But Rhodas was only one member – I don't know what this Arch is capable of, and I don't intend to find out firsthand."

"So, what are you gonna do about it?" asked Alvin.

"Nothing. At least, not for the time being."

All three brothers looked at Phelan with the same deadpan expression on their faces.

"That's right," reassured Phelan. "If they're serious about coming for me, then I'll let them."

"You've got to be joking, aren't you?"

"Alvin, I'm not."

"I mean, seriously, dude! This 'munk almost squashed your nuts into oblivion! And you're sitting here calmly pretending that nothing's ever happened and you're going to let it slip like that?"

Phelan sighed. "I didn't say I was going to let it pass. But there's nothing I can do for now except to wait. Look, if you're still worried, I'll contact Soron and tell him about the situation. We've faced a greater enemy before, and there's nothing we can't do together, okay?"

But even that didn't change the tensions that were slowly rising like mist in the confined room, and so Phelan cuddled closer to his brothers in a group hug.

"From now on, I'm putting you guys first, because my wandering days are over. You're my family, and I will never forgive myself if I let anything bad happen to any of you, okay? Hey, us bros got to stick together, right?" Phelan said in a light-hearted mood.

"You're right, Phelan," smiled Alvin. "Sorry if I ever doubted you."

"The most important thing to remember is that right now, we're a family once more, and that's all that matters," said Simon, and everyone nodded at his words.

"Actually, there's one more thing we should do to make this a proper home welcoming," Phelan said.

"And what's that?"

In reply, the wolf-like chipmunk bonked Alvin's face with his pillow before leaping over to his brother's bed and grabbing a pillow for his own.

"PILLOW FIGHT!"

While the four chipmunks were having the time of their lives, shrieking and cheering as they egged each other with pillows, nobody paid any attention to the shadows perched on the tree by their windowsill.

The largest of the shadows was a young arctic-timber wolf with a silver pelt. He was as silent as the night itself; his icy, unblinking green eyes basking in the glory of spying on his targets undetected. On his shoulder perched a brown bat, rather small for her species, but nonetheless ready to prove herself, the sound of her wings merging in harmony against the gentle breeze, fluttering furiously like a hummingbird's.

A rustling of branches was followed by the sound of frisky paws, and a black-clad chipmunk scaled up the tree with lightning speed. They watched the joyous family reunion from the safety of their hiding spot, never taking their sight off one particularly gifted chipmunk.

The arctic-timber wolf was the first to break the silence. "You sure that's the right 'munk? The one who defeated the Darkness single-handedly?"

Rhodas pulled off his balaclava to speak, but remembered to keep his voice low. "Absolutely positive."

"He doesn't look one inch of the warrior I expected," the wolf frowned.

"Faolan right. Friendly, happy, carefree, silly. Not killer, nope nope." The bat's voice was a series of squeaks, high pitches and echoes.

"Are you kidding me? He's already attacking those chipmunks with a bunch of pillows! Not the best of weapons, I'll say, but versatility is the key to victory."

Faolan, the wolf, turned to face Rhodas with a grin, though his tone remained void of emotions. "It's a pillow fight."

"Dumb dumb," smirked Stellaluna, the bat.

"I knew that." Rhodas rolled his eyes.

"So, what are we going to do about him?"

While Faolan finished his question, Rhodas crossed his arms as the eccentric chipmunk raised an eyebrow.

"The question isn't what are we going to do, but rather, it's what aren't we going to do."

They leapt from the tree to the ground with the grace of a cat's landing; Stellaluna fluttered downwards until she was resting safely atop Faolan's shoulder once more.

"If you were given a choice to tell the boss about our greatest inspiration's return, would you or wouldn't you do it?"

Nobody, not even Rhodas, was able to speak up. Stellaluna actually shook her head.

"I thought so. If one word about Phelan slips out, it's the boss's job to alert the rest of us. Which means..." Rhodas held up two fingers, to which Foalan and Stellaluna nodded with dreaded anticipation.

"The boss isn't the problem, but it's the other two I'm concerned about. I'll bet you the fur on my back they'll take matters into their own hands."

"So in a nutshell, we're playing along with the worst of two evils," Faolan said.

"But if boss finds out, pelts go on wall. Either way, very bad, very bad."

"That won't be necessary, Stella," said Rhodas. "He's very understanding. But until then, not a word of this reaches the Arch. We'll meet here every other night until we can figure out a solution. Agreed?"

Two paws and a wing made a solemn oath, and the wolf, bat and chipmunk took off into the night, leaving behind a quiet suburb in its last waking hours.

But until the chain of events could run its full course, this was only the first half of tonight's story...

To Be Continued...

As you can see, I've introduced another two members from The Black Arch. A big thanks to Legion262 for granting me permission to use Faolan and Stellaluna, two inseparable OCs of a kind! ;)

In the next chapter, we'll cross paths with the Chipettes - and a very unlikely visitor who will change the course of everyone's lives.

Until then, may your brains stay sharp and your fingers keep on flowing, and please let those reviews come pouring in. Thanks! :D

~ Wind