A/N: hello everyone! I hope you're doing great and having a wonderful whatever time you are in right now!
IMPORTANT STUFF! Read if you want to tho hehehe( pls read :p)
I know I am super late and you are right I am a very lazy guy with a little bit of time left for writing and reading ever since school has started. Maybe a half hour to one hour depend on the day and unlike you guys my school is really hard on us so I literally how no off days yes I even have to attend classes during weekends and prepare for lots and lots of exams so I hope you get it why every chapter I so late you have to go back to find out what has even happened.
Really sorry 'bout that siiiggghhhh* dying for lack of sleep one* it's 2:30 am right now and I have exams first thing in the morning so I will explain this quickly…
recently, I have been reading a really good LiS( life is strange) fan fiction and wanted to actually try out the human domain for once so yeah a new story will come out shortly (better hope so…) and…
Another thing is how everything is going to change from now on, like, I am stepping up my game to a whole new level and wrting according to some rules a gathered from a lot of good writers.
I will prolly post it on my profile so be sure to check it out so you don't get confused as hell next time I post.
Another thing I like legit need your help with is something that has been bugging me ever since I started writing here.
so the first chapter were bad! Like real bad and my grammar was off point and all over the place and due to that reason I have lost almost 4k viewer in the first chapter( crazy I know:/)
so I wanted to know if you would like me to redo those chapter in one big chapter seeing how short they are.
please tell me this I need to know
pls it will only take a moment to review or pm me just do it!
Also I post news and excuses(lol) whenever I'm late on updating ( my username on insta is the same one here only with dots as in: . ) be sure to check it out if I'm over time ever again.
I know this was long but I promise this chapter is worth it.
Thanks for supporting me throughout this year.
It means a lot.
Enjoy.
(I don't really know how to reply to your reviews unless there is a question or something so forgive me if I upset you in any way! Every single one of you has a special place in my heart!)
On with the story:
THIRD POV: Kate LOCATION: on a train cart on their way to jasper time set: same night as everyone else…
*chugga chugga chugga chugga choo chooo!* the train rumbled as it made its way across the tracks. The sudden movements and twists of the train cart caused Kate to steer in her sleep. The golden tan furred wolf slowly opened her beautiful amber eyes and looking around the cart.
They had been travelling this way for about a day and half! They hadn't eaten anything since two days ago! because on their last day on land, it was raining and none of them managed to catch anything. Kate carefully stood up ignoring her stomach which was demanding food with is grumbles and made her way to the other side of the cart; sitting near the entrance.
The train was passing over a lake with very few small pieces of land here and there. In the distance some trees could be seen from where she sat and of course most important of all, the moon! Kate looked up to the moon with admiration in her eyes. She felt a spark of calmness wash over, looking at it. like any wolf in the right mind would do! I mean, it's the freaking moon!
Although Kate felt calm, she wasn't relived of her troublesome thoughts, mostly worrying about her beloved Humphrey. She had been missing him deeply ever since! sure she kept up her composure in front of her friends but underneath all the acting, she was as broken as any of them right now! Heck maybe even Worse! After all she was missing her sister too!
Kate sighed deeply as she hung her head down, staring at her reflection in the water as the train moved by.
Her hair was a mess! It had raised in the air at some parts and a few twigs could be seen here and there. Kate groaned as she started to pick out the twigs. They had been on the run for a quite a while and being beautiful wasn't het first priority at the time. At least not till now!
She groaned in pain, pulling out a twig which had went deeper into her mane than the others. But suddenly her paw dropped along with her jaw as Her eyes narrowed towards the water, shock covered her face. right next to her in the water, WAS HUMPHERY!
Kate almost screamed in joy right there and then! but held it in not wanting to disturb her friends sleep.
Just then, she realized something! Her mind must be playing tricks on her! because technically, there was no way he could be here! Right? But Kate didn't dare to blink. She was afraid that if she did, he would be gone and she would never see him again!
Taking a deep breath, Kate slowly turned her eyes away from the reflection in the water and into his gaze and gasped!
If there were any doubts before, they were cleared the moment her eyes met his! They were same icy blue eyes that made her want melt into them and never leave his embrace.
"y-you're… but… how…?" Kate asked completely dumbfounded.
"am I here?" Humphrey completed her sentence for her.
Kate nodded, preventing herself from touching him; Afraid she would break him if she did.
He shrugged with a * I don't know * look in his eyes.
They stared at each other for while enjoying each other's presence in complete silence until Humphrey looked away at the moon and broke the silence.
"it's a beautiful night, isn't it?" he said with his charming voice.
"yeah it is, but it's not as beautiful as you!" Kate said with affection as her faced turned red.
"hey! That's supposed to be my line!" Humphrey said with a fake frown as Kate could tell.
Kate giggled as she too looked at the moon.
"are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Humphrey asked with a sly grin.
" hmm.. I don't know what are you thinking?" Kate played along.
"ohhh come on Kate, Think a little harder! We got each other, the moon and a clear sky. You see where I'm going with this?"
"yeah, I think I do." Kate said giggling. Honestly she was surprised that she didn't break down crying when she saw him but then again she didn't want to show Humphrey her sad face, meeting him after so long.
Humphrey gave her a * are you ready? * look which she nodded to. Then he smiled, lifting his head to moon after taking in a deep breath and howled. He howled perfect tunes filled with emotions of happiness and love. He howled about how good it felt to be with her again but stopped when he noticed Kate wasn't singing with her.
"come on Kate! Howl at the moon with me." he said inviting her with the flick of his paw.
Kate slowly rubbed away the one single tear drop that had escaped her eye and she smiled nodding. She lifted her mouth into the air and let out all the emotions she had buried all this time. Humphrey remained silent for the first few tunes, admiring her unmatched angelic voice before joining in as well.
Kate was worried that they would wake up their friends but she put the thought aside seeing they were still snoring away in their sleep and focused on her howling.
They both howled until their throat couldn't make a sound and even then they still wanted to continued.
"pheeww! T-that...*pant* was…*pant* one heck of *pant* howl. Wasn't it?" Kate said panting.
Humphrey nodded with his mouth wide open and his tongue hanging from the side." Y-eah..*pant*I think..*pant*that was the longest..*pant* time I've..*pant* ever howled."
Kate nodded in agreement as their sight locked again. but this time, no words were needed to know what was going to happen next.
They leaned closer to each other never breaking eye-contact even once as their lips caught each other in a passionate kiss. Kate felt Humphrey nibbling on her bottom lip, asking for permission which she gladly gave in, opening her mouth. she found herself moaning a little as she felt Humphrey's warm tongue slide into her mouth. Kate shivered lightly as she felt his tongue explore the depths of her mouth as she did the same to him.
Kate froze in her place as a familiar irony taste flowed into her mouth. It was blood!
Kate quickly pulled back looking in horror as a river of blood dropped her lovers mouth.
"k-Kate… what's going…" muttered as more blood spilt from his mouth to point he couldn't talk anymore.
Kate watched in shock as Humphrey threw up more blood and lost his balance, falling into the lake. Kate screamed in panic as she jumped after him but the moment her body touched the water, everything in sight turned black as if none of it existed in the first place!
Kate pawed at her surroundings desperately as she tried to resurface. But it seemed there was no surface! Kate felt her lungs hurt as they begged her to get a breath of air but she couldn't! Kate felt herself slowly sink more into the depths of the unknown black substance as the last bits of oxygen in her lungs burned out.
'Augh what's happening? Is this the end? one moment I was kissing Humphrey and now I'm drowning in this darkness and I don't even know what happened to him? oh Lupa have mercy on him if I am to die' Kate thought and with that last pray she stopped struggling; accepting her fate.
The world gets darker as the dark liquid makes its way inside Kate's lungs choking her from the inside.
" kate! Hey kate! Come on, you need to get up!" said a fairly familiar voice. Kate's eyes shot open as she felt a new strength in her body as she made her way through the dark world and with that…
She woke up!
DREAM ENDED! TIME AND LOCATION STILL THE SAME!
A/N: lol XD I bet some of you were so confused and sacred till the end when reading this and were thinking 'what the heck! why am I killing them?' hahahah lol you have been tricked! I just really wanted to include the train scene because it was one of my favs in the movie and some other reason you shall read in the very very close future!
carrying on:
POV: none
Kate almost slashed Dakota's face waking up! Luckily, Dakota had good reflexes and managed to dodge to sudden attack by a few centimeters.' Whew that was a close one!' Dakota thought looking at the strand of hair that were caught by Kate's claw. If he hadn't pulled back when he did, he would be missing an eye now!
Kate looked around in confusion and saw that she was back in the train cart along with Dakota who was standing beside her." Where is he? Tell me now!" Kate asked as she hurried herself up looking around the cart for Humphrey.
"Kate who is where? You're not making sense!" Dakota exclaimed waving his paw in front of Kate's face who was too distracted to notice.
Kate glared blankly at Dakota." it was all a dream!" she muttered like it was a question.
"what was?" Dakota asked with a tilted head.
However, Kate wasn't listening. "it was all a dream! … all a dream… all a dream..." she kept repeating to herself to keep calm but tears were already dropping from her now watery Amber eyes.
"Kate what's wrong? Why are you crying?!" Dakota asked in a worried tune, uncertain whether to let her cry or comfort her.
"nothing!" she shouted between her sobs. Dakota pulled back his paw in shock.
Kate knew that the Humphrey in her dream wasn't real but his voice, looks, even the way they kissed it all felt real! like it happened. 'stupid nightmares!' she thought sighing deeply.
Guilt grabbed Kate's soul as an uneasy feeling filled her body. she glanced up to see Dakota was staring at her with concerned eyes.
She looked away to avoid his eyes but she could still sense his gaze on her back.
There were no full moons tonight! 'huh, I must've dreamt that as well.' She mused trying to distract herself from his eyes.
A cold wind blew past the train, sending chills to Kate's bones who was sitting at the entrance of the cart. It's freezing out here!' She grimaced, wrapping her tail around her body for warmth.
"Kate what happened? Did you have a nightmare or something?" Dakota asked sitting on the opposite side of the cart door. He sounded mostly pissed off rather than worried this time; still, Kate didn't answer. She knew Dakota was scowling behind her back. It wasn't like she wanted to ignore the black furred wolf, she was just too embarrassed to talk with him about such personal matters or it's better to say such illusional matters.
Kate heard him taking a deep breath, the kind his dad took when he wanted to give her an advice.
"Kate look," he started." I won't force to talk about anything. It's your life and you are the only person who can decide if they want to share anything as far as I am concerned. But keeping one too many things to yourself isn't good either! You need to let people in so they can help you when you're lost and feel frightened."
Kate opened her mouth to argue with him, to say she wasn't feeling a scared even one bit, but her mouth slowly closed itself. Because it was the truth! She had nearly lost her mind over a nightmare which anyone could tell it was one, if they paid a little attention to the dream!(A/N: yes I am talking to you dear reader) not only had she thought the dream was real but also, she was still shivering at the memory of it.
"yeah I know augh…" Kate sighed in a low voice before rubbing the tears out of her eyes." It's just so unbelievable that I feel stupid even talking about it. yet I still miss him so much!" she sniffed looking at the strangely familiar lake they were passing by.
"hey don't be like that! everyone is permitted to miss someone they love." He argued." You know, I have a little sister back at my pack. we get along pretty well, even though I was an alpha and she was an omega kinda like you and Lilly." Dakota smiled as he scratched the back of his head.
" One day, I got my first hunting mission, I had to hunt down some bears that have been causing trouble for the pack, along with some other alphas. My mother and father understood the risks and knew I had the skill to pull through, even though my mom was worried sick till the very last second! but my sister was a whole another story!" he said in an over exaggerating way.
"She was worried that I wouldn't return, because of some nightmare she had the night before my departure. So I told her the same thing I'm going to tell you…" he said, pausing to see Kate's reaction.
Kate tilted her head as she gestured for him to continue.
"I told her to pick out a certain star in the sky one that she could find all the time even on cloudy night and look for it, every night, becoming going to sleep. If she could find the star, then she would know I was okay." He said smiling to the memory. So did Kate as she seemed to have finally calmed down.
"I don't know if you have anything like that between you two but don't lose faith, he will come back to you one way or another. He couldn't live with himself if he doesn't." Dakota laughed, as he friendly patted Kate on the back.
"you really think so?" Kate asked looking Dakota in the eyes.
"I may not be close friends with Humphrey but one thing I do know is that he loves you! Like, you're his moon on a dark night. You can tell by his sparkly eyes whenever he talks about you he's the happiest then."
Kate's face turned to a deep shade of red that made tomatoes look pale!" you know that's really sweet of him." Kate smiled as her tail wiggled happily, brushing against her back. "but, that's not what I meant by my question. I was asking whether he could make it or not as in physically make it." She bitted her bottom lip almost cursing for having a doubt in his love's abilities but she couldn't help but fear the worst.
Dakota stared at her with wide jaws for a moment and then he burst out laughing!
Kate looked at his friend who was laughing like a mad wolf. "what's with the laugh?!" Kate punched him in the shoulder, laughing as well
"what you serious?!" he asked with shock. Kate narrowed her eyes to look serious as she answered with a serious nod.
"what the hell?! Are you kidding me? That guy can get cut and fisted for a whole day and shake it off as meh, with his healing powers! In my pack I was the strongest yet he punched me to next winter and if it wasn't for him I would still be trapped in that healing den probably out of commission for the rest of my life. And you are asking me if he can make it?! Ha! I'd worry about the ones who try to stop him!" he said with a chuckle as a tint of admiration could be felt in his voice.
Kate stared at Dakota, her mouth agape as a feeling as calmness washed over her.
"thanks I really needed that!" Kate smiled assuring Dakota that she will be fine. "You go on ahead and get some sleep. I stay here for a little while and get some more fresh air." Kate said gesturing him to go.
"Ok but don't stay up too late. You still need your energy tomorrow." Dakota said with a yawn as he stretched his body before leaving her side.
Kate steered her eyes over the lake which she now recognized as the one from her dream/nightmare. A drop of cold sweat ran down the side of her temple and reached the tip of her chin before it was swept by the flick of her paw. as she was looking in the sky, her mind went back to when Dakota was talking about her sister. About how he promised to come back if she kept looking after that star and then she remembered something! Something important.
A/N: alright I think that was some good amount of bounding time along with a little peek into Dakota's life. Now what happens in the flash back.
THE FLASHBACK : hello my name is Humphrey!
FIR'ST POV: KATE'S POV TIME SET: THE NIGHT AFTER KATE FOUND HUMPHREY WHEN THEY WERE PUPS LOCATION: head alpha den…
I slowly opened my eyes, looking around. I noticed it is being mid night and every one was asleep. Lily was snoring in her sleep right in front of me. a string of drool was slipping from the side of her open mouth. I silently giggled at the sight as I stood up in a sneaky fashion.
I made my way from where I was to the entrance of the den as silently possible but as I was sneaking past my dad as he woke up." Kate dear, what's wrong? Why are you up so late honey? I t's midnight!" Winston said in his sleepy voice. He flapped his eyes a few times looking at a nervous me. I froze in my place trying to come up with an excuse.
"aaaahhh… eerrr…nothing dad! I was just feeling a little thirsty you know… just going over to the water hole to drink some water." I said giving my dad one of my best 'I assure you I'm telling the truth and nothing else' faces'. He looked like he bought it.
"oh okay dear. Just be careful not to slip." He said going back to sleep.
'that was a close call!' I said in my mind, swiping the sweat that had gathered on my forehead. I started moving again but not towards the drinking hole, towards the same place I found that injured pup. I think his name was humpy or something like that. Funny name if you ask me! That if it was his name.
As I walked, I went over the things I had done today in my head. First I had breakfast with my family which was very routine. Then I had tricked my sister by taking her to somewhere else and making her believe the pup had somehow left without any trace which was harder you might think! She is very smart and likewise very hard to fool!
After that, I took a bath at the river near the east of our pack. In the end, I spent the entire afternoon with my mother learning different things about how to treat various kinds of bone fractures. Of course not all kind were treatable by the simple paws of a wolf but the ones that could be treated, I learned them well. I decided to take nap for the night when I broke out and that, brings us to where we are at this point.
I stopped for a moment and observed the forest before me. The trees get a lot denser in these parts. The same went for their heights, but, the width of the trunks remained the same. The grass also had grown into a darker color because of how much little sun reached the ground giving it a gloomy or rather spooky vibe. The thick mist that had formed around the lower regions didn't help with the mood either.
I could literally feel my legs go numb from the cold silence the forest was wrapped in but with a few deep breaths and lot of nerve calming thoughts, I found the courage in myself to move on and enter the forest.
As I approached the place, guilt grasped my mind trying to make me blame myself for tricking Lilly by taking her to someplace else earlier today but I had too! Or at least, that's what I keep telling myself… I want to believe I'm doing the right thing by protecting my little is from a complete stranger and that is what my alpha guts is telling me… but deep down I feel guilty because some part of me wanted him for myself like he was my discovery! Why should I share him with someone else? Plus, he's kinda cute! I blushed to the thought as I made my way through the forest to where I found him.
Tonight has been a pretty cloudy night so far and I almost tripped over a rock one or twice, almost! not being able to see clearly was troublesome, but thankfully, I managed to retain myself before it came to that point.
By the time I reached the spot, the clouds had been washed away by the wind so I could see a bit better now with the crescent moon shining some light on the path ahead.
The place was pretty amazing in my eyes. It had a circle like structure that took a very Sharp drop at the center. from above, looked like someone had punched a hole in the ground with their fist! Apart from the big hole in the middle, the ground was pretty much clear of any rocks or bushes.
The walls had a sharp flat angle as well, creating a somewhat cliff formation around the carter. Inside however, was covered with a kind of somewhat long grass which made it look like a small meadow with two or three half trees that were scattered around the area.
In the center the meadow, a river ran down from the south towards the north cutting it in half. Near the northern side of the river the ground bent deeper creating a small pound a few kinds of fish living inside.
On western side of the river near the small pound, the walls had caved in creating a natural den of some sorts. The cave wasn't too deep, just enough for it to have dark shadows in the end and be able to get sunlight/moonlight in the front.
Next to the den was a fallen hollow tree log with green moss grown all over its outer parts. The log enabled any small to medium animal a safe way to get inside while keeping the big ones like bears and tigers away.
All in all, it was like some piece of heaven had fallen from the skies!
I took another few seconds admiring the view before remembering why was here and snapped out of my daze. I carefully walked down the log looking around the area for the small wolf. I peeked my head through the side of cave and sure enough he was laying there inside the den, exactly where I left him, still covered in leaf bandages.
I slowly walked up to him nudging the side of his face to see if he would wake up. He didn't! 'oh no!' I thought, quickly checking his pulse to see if he was alive.
One thousand, two thousand… Ten thousand! Nothing!
I looked down only to find out I was hold the wrong part of his paw! I quickly corrected myself, cursing under my breath for making such an amateur mistake and counted from the start.
One thou… two thou.. thump!...one thousand… two… thump!
I let out a sigh of relief seeing his heart was pumping blood in a steady pace. But frowned again for my carelessness. 'I need to be more careful next time' I mentally noted to myself as I tried to figure out why he wasn't waking up.
'maybe he is just too tried to wake up right now? Well, it is midnight after all!' I thought as I went out to grab a bowl of clean water to clean his wounds with. When I returned, I firmly place the bowl made out of a halved coconut fruit and removed one the bigger patches on his sides.
I blinked a few times looking more closely.' My mind must be playing tricks on me!' I thought as I looked at his bare side. There were no wounds! "but how? How is this even possible?!" I muttered touching his side to see if his fur was covering the wounds but no except a few spots with pinkish skin and a little dried blood, nothing else indicated there was once wounds here! I started removing the rest of leaves getting even more surprised, seeing all of his wounds had disappeared! The only part of him that needed attention was his leg that was still broken but in much better condition than it was yesterday.
'this doesn't make any sense!' I thought obnoxiously. My mind was telling me that I was dreaming but my eyes were saying otherwise. I pinched my arm just to be sure and when the pain came, I knew this was real! Illogical, but very real! With a sigh out of frustration, I made up my mind, deciding that I would ask him later, when he woke up.
I changed his bandages mostly the ones around his leg while removing the rest, seeing all of the other ones had already healed.
Having nothing else to do, I set on hunting us food. Now, I couldn't actually hunt anything makor yet! because I didn't know how to and the few times I tried, I ended up face planting some tree or rock. However, they say practice makes perfect and I completely agreed with it.
I walked into the pound just deep enough that the water reached the base of my belly and tried to not move as I watched the ripples fade away. There was lots of little fish with all kinds of colors and shapes but I had something specific in my mind, one that had healing capabilities!
A victorious grin spread through my face as I spotted my first prey. I steadied my breathing as a red and purple scaled fish swam close to my paws. The other fish kept their distance from me but this one was tingling right beside me but not close enough that I could snatch it with my fangs.
I waited but it didn't get any closer, growing impatient, I decided to try and lure it by making ripples in the water with my tail. The ripples seemed to bother it and make the fish swim closer to the front of my paws
I had to hold my breath to stop my heart from beating so loudly as I observed the fish and in a spilt of second I dove my head in the water and grabbed…
A mouthful of dirt!
"eww that's disgusting!" I said spitting out some green seaweed out of my mouth. Surrendering from the awful taste, I noticed the fish had run off into the swarm of fishes and I couldn't find him! "bloody hell!" I grumbled taking position once again.
After countless miserable attempts, I managed to hunt 5 of the juicy looking fish that I knew were used as painkillers from my mom.
I cut them open in half and placed them in a bowl to gather their blood. I shuddered at the sight of the dark blue looking blood. I knew for fact that it was very poisonous for us wolves, but if it was used in popper dosages, it could work as a kind of pain killer.
Finishing up my work outside, I washed my paws off the blood and mud and I went back to check up on Humphrey.
He hadn't moved a muscle all this time! I was beginning to get worried if this was normal but I couldn't just carry him with me! even if I did his broken leg could make things go south real fast! 'ARG! Thinking too much is making my head want to explode' i groaned with knitted brows.
I silently laid down beside him, having nothing else to do.
Just when I was about to drift to sleep, he softly yawned opening his icy-blue eyes causing me to yawn as well.
I watched him look around the den in confusion as he licked his chapped lips a few times with his drier tongue before speaking." Where am I?" he asked with a dry throat. Even he, himself seemed spooked by the tone of his voice.
"you're in the western pack of jasper territory. How are you feeling?" I replied handing him a small bowl of fresh water which he drank immediately!
"I feel like I've been through the worst part of hell and came back, then did it all over again!" he said with an exhausted look on his face." He pointed to the now empty bowl, "thanks for the water though It felt like my throat was drier than the bits of sand in a desert!" he said gulping on the second bowl of water which I had refilled for him.
"ha-ha that's natural I guess; Judging from what you've been through, that is." I giggled. "WAIT! what am I saying nothing about you is normal!" I shouted pointing my paw over his body him.
"w-what do you mean?" he asked with a confused scowl as he stretched his neck to check his body.
'keep it cool Kate! You're scaring him!' I noted to myself angrily. " Oh nothing… well it's something but…
"but ?!" he said gesturing me to go on.
" but it's defiantly not a bad thing!" I finished quickly. He didn't look satisfied with my answer at all! his narrowed eyes and a demanding stare in his crystal blue eyes, "Look, when I found you, you were in a pretty bad shape." I explained my voice dropping to a dim squeak at the end.
He narrowed his eyes again, only this time, it was a questioning look. I noticed a drop of sweat running own the side of his cheek
It was funny how easily I could read his words through the littlest movements in his face, when I only knew him for a few hours at most. I could tell this was true for him as well. If another being was watching us right now, it seemed to him that we had a sort of telepathic connection or some shit!
"…but fortunately I found you just in time before you passed out due to bloodless and I nursed you back to health." I said pointing at the used bandages beside him.
He let out a sigh of relief. "thanks, I was getting kinda worried there for a sec, hehehe" He said.
I shook my paw to pass it as nothing. "well, thanks, but you should be thanking yourself; not me!"
"huh?" he let out a surprised grunt.
" as I said before, you were in pretty bad shape when I found you, like you had a few cracked bones and a lot of slashes and cuts all over your body! yet here you are, almost all healed up." I said pointing to his whole body.
"what do you mean?"
"I found you about…" I looked up to the now clear sky to check the time. "seventeen hours ago."
he stares switched between me and the bandages for couple of seconds, then pulled up his head. "how?"
"I got nothing." I said shrugging. Just then an idea popped in my head! You know, when you're thinking really hard and a light bulb pop on your head and flicks on and BOOM! You have an idea! "say humpher, do…"
"It's Humphrey" he cut in.
"right, Humphrey, got it." I loudly noted to myself. "Do you come from a pack or you're a lone wolf?" I asked.
"a pack up in the north, why you ask?" he said knitting his eyebrows in wonder.
"well you see, packs are usually formed to make protecting one's territory and food easier. They also help weaker wolves to sleep without worrying about dangers that come with the lone-wolf life style, right? But other than those facts sometimes a group of wolves form a pack because of their special similarities." I explained.
Of course he looked as confused as a duck trying to breath underwater in a dried swamp! I was beginning to suspect he was missing a few screws on the upper head department. 'sigh… deep breaths Kate! Keep it together!'
"take the western pack for example, although our pack is really old and has been around for a few generations, we are specialized in hunting. If you ask around other packs, you will hear people say thing like "the western pack has the best hunters!" or "Lupa has blessed the western pack with hunting skills that match her own!" and stuff like that. Heck there used to be a rumor around back in my grandpa's time that we were the best hunters in all of Canada!" I explained as a tint of pride slipped into my voice subconsciously.
"I-I don't t-think our pack had anything like that." He statured with a red face. 'he probably feels embarrassed.' I thought.
Dismissing the thought as unimportant, I placed a comforting paw on his shoulder. " hey it's ok! Maybe your pack had a secret skill or ability and you just don't know about." I suggested in a calming voice. Like the one my mother uses whenever she tries to calm Lilly down from her turtle road kill nightmares, and before you ask why is my sister having nightmares about turtles getting road killed, let me just say that she has a thing for turtles! Moving on!
He nodded, giving a weak smile of assurance.
"so then, what can you tell me about your pack maybe we can find something out." I suggested trying to find something out about him other than his name.
" i-iee err…" he started but before he could answer a large growl escaped from his stomach shutting him up in the process.
"oh Lupa, we should get some food in ya before your stomach starts to digest itself." I chuckled as I helped him stand up. I had to carry his arm over my shoulder to help him support his broken leg but It didn't mind me much, even if he was really heavy!
He didn't say anything until we reached outside near the pound. "thanks, sorry to be such a burden." He said with red cheeks and his head sunk into his neck a little.
"Hey! Stop being so rough on yourself!" I scowled, placing the leaf of fish between us, only taking one out of the five for myself.
"you sure that's enough for ya? I mean there's plenty to share." He offered.
"err… thanks but no thanks, I've already ate my dinner so I'm not that hungry. Plus, this fish can help with your broken leg and make up for the blood loss, so you need to eat up!" I strictly said pushing the leaf back to him.
He simply nodded biting into his fist fish.
I was playing around with my food for bit thinking about how could I get my dad to form a search squad when he asked, "hey I never got your name!"
I looked at him dumbfounded for a moment. 'have I really not given him my name?' I thought starching the back of my head. "I'm Kate."
He didn't say anything except for the simple 'nice to meet you!' which I returned. We ate the rest of our food in silence until I decided to change his bandages.
Humphrey was busy picking out bits of meat out of his teeth so I went straight for his injuries, or rather injury.
I decided not to bother him as I cautiously picked up the poisonous leaves that had dried from before with my mouth making sure that my tongue didn't make any contact. I moved up to his broken leg to replace the normal bandages with new ones. He didn't seem to notice until I took off the last leaf.
"eeh… What are those blue looking leaves?! And why do they smell like a caribou who has been dead for over a month?" he asked pinching his nose.
"these are dipped blood leaves from our food. Their blood can help with the pain if used properly." I placed the leaves near his leg.
"whoa whoa whoa what do you mean by properly? Is that stuff safe? It's my live we're talking about!" he asked panicking as he tried to pull his leg away from me by dragging himself across the floor.
"relax! The blood is only deadly if you consume it! If used for outer regions, it can act as a painkiller!" I explained calmly placing the leaves on his wound.
"ouch! It hurts!" Humphrey winced looking back at me with a frowny face. He looked like he still wasn't convinced but didn't put up any resistance either.
" oh yeah forgot to mention that it will sting a bit!" I said grinning innocently.
"yeah, this sure is a little!" he grunted as he tried to ignore the pain.
" so you wanna like talk 'bout something to keep your off the pain or what?" I said placing the third leaf on his raw skin. Three down, five more to go.
"I-i… want t-to talk!" he statured trying to keep his mind off his leg at the moment.
"good boy!" I giggled as I decided to give him a few seconds to catch his breath before moving on the forth leaf.
"so Humphrey, do you have any idea where your pack is other than it being up in the north?"
" I don't know why but whenever I try to think of it, my head starts to hurt." He said with a pouted faced.
"hummm… strange, I don't remember finding a head injury on ya. Maybe you're just experiencing some sort of shock or something."
"yeah something…-" He repeated mostly to himself but suddenly his face lighted up a full moon. "hey I think I remembered something that can help you with finding my pack!" he said with excitement echoing through in his voice.
"what!?" I asked trying to keep up with his enthusiasm.
"you see those stars over there? The ones that have a wolfish kind of figure to them?" he pointed towards a bunch of stars on the west of us
"right… I was trying to remember something important about my pack but I can't." he said with a pouty face.
"well what do you remember? maybe talking about it will trigger something" I suggested almost done with my work as swept the sweat off my forehead. Luckily he was distracted enough at the moment with his brain problem that he didn't notice the stinging. As for his memory loss, it seemed pretty normal to me after all he had went through a lot of shock and the pressure may have strained on his brain a bit too much for the little pup to handle. The only thing I could do was wait and hope for it to come back on its own.
"not much strangely! The only thing I remember about my pack is my family members and close friends and…-" he stopped, his face truning as pale as chalk.
"W-we got attacked…someone told me to wait at the western pack and that I will be safe there and I ran! What the hell?! Why I can't I remember anything?!"
"Humphrey you need to calm down!" I said rubbing my nose with one paw as I held down his fluffy tail which had run wild in the middle of his speaking, down. Tears were the second thing that came running down his face.
He cried for a bit and I let him empty himself while trying to support him.
He did what I said but I could still feel his heart pulsating through!
"hey look I know it doesn't sound like much but I can ask my dad's guards to go on a search party for your pack members! You know to see if anyone survived or something." I suggested trying to calm him down as I gently rubbed the fur on his back.
I wasn't honestly sure if my dad would allow it, but hutch and Candu owed me a favor for letting them sleep the afternoon shift for a whole week and not turn in, their reports. So I figured I could make a few calls.
"would you really do that for me?" he asked with his teary puppy dog eyes that even the coldest hearts couldn't resist. Not that he needed to, would've tried to do it anyways, hey! Just saying!
I simply nodded giving him one of my "everything going to be okay" smiled I had inherited from my mother.
"thanks Kate, that's really kind of you. All you've been doing since we met is being kind to me and I don't even know how to repay this kindness, except saying thank you." He said with a warm smile.
"don't mention it. I'm glad to see you are going to be okay but still, after your leg heals a bit more, we should probably take you to my mother, she can tell if you are completely healed or not." I said, my cheeks turning red.
"yup that sounds like a good idea!" he nodded. "…but I need to tell you how to find my pack first." He said with a concerned face.
I nodded knowing that this could help him relax, waiting for him to tell me the location. Unlike what I expected, he looked up instead as if he was looking for something. I did the same and noticed that the sky was clear now and the crescent moon was shining brightly in the sky along with millions and millions of stars scattered all over the place.
"wow!" we both said in awe simultaneously as we admired the moon. It was one of those things that every wolf loved, even mad wolves!
"look over there." He said pointing to a group of stars near the moon. I followed his line of sight and found a groped of stars shaped like a wolf of some sort. The figure no doubt belonged to a wolf but, there was something else like a wings of an eagle on his back as the extended across a large portion of the sky.
"it's beautiful…" I whispered in awe, wondering how have I not noticed it before.
"mm-humm…" he nodded." Yup. We call it the "fallen angel" in our pack." He explained.
"why such a sad name? it's too majestic to be called that! Plus, he isn't falling." I pointed out with a raised eyebrow as the wolf looked like it was sliding in a horizontal way across the sky. Yep, definitely not falling
"yup from here it does but once you get in my pack's territory it looks as if he wings have dropped by his side and are useable so he falls towards the south from the north during the night." He said dropping a small rock he had picked up as if it was the wolf in the sky.
"right… huh, guess the name fits after all." I said as I silently yawned but Humphrey noticed.
"you seem very interestedin this topic I see." He said with a smugly smile.
"ahh no… sorry i-i... aah…just had a rough night. You're not easy to take of ya know!" I muttered between a half yawn.
"I know, just kidding hehe… well, I shouldn't keep you here any longer than you have to be. It's getting late and You should prolly head back." He said hobbling his way to stand up
He did for like a… second before his knees gave out under his weight. I rushed to myself under him to catch him before he hurt himself and helped him up properly.
At first, I was confused at his tone as my eyes stared blankly into his, something was off about the way he said those words, … but then it hit me. He was Scared to sleep alone!
'come on! for the love of Lupa! why does this has to happen to me? as if I already don't have enough to deal with on my plate.' I asked in my mind as puffed away a string of hair off my face in frustration." Yeah it is…" I said rolling my head as I made my choice." Come on let's get some sleep. You and I both need it." I said as I pulled he paw over my shoulder to help him walk back.
he resisted for a moment, as if he was wondering whether he should say something or not, but wobbled along me without saying anything. the thankful look in his eye filled in for the silence, I guess.
Even though I knew I would get in trouble the following day, I couldn't leave him, I mean he was injured and still in shock, even if you looked at it in a medical term, I would be unwise to leave him out here all by himself! I mean what if his wound got infected or he had a secure or something!? 'damn it Kate, you're getting too kind to be an alpha.' I grumbled to myself as I helped Humphrey _who had once again lost his balance_ to put his paw over my shoulder so I could guide him inside the den.
"there we go, easy now, don't put too much pressure on your leg!" I instructed as I slowly laid him on his side with a little help on his side. He suddenly winced in pain and screeched as his leg hit the ground in a bad angel.
"sorry!" I said biting my lip as I quickly pulled him up again. This time, I made sure his leg was clear first.
"thanks" he said as a drop of sweat dropped down his face. I raised my paw to clear it but was surprised when I felt his fur. I was much smoother than his back. I tried pay much mind to it as I laid down across from him closing my eyes.
"good night Kate." He said from the other side of the cave.
"yea good night to you as well Humphrey." I said with closed eyes as I snuggled my tail for warmth.
I was slowly drifting to sleep when I heard some shuffling sounds and then felt something lay down next to me. I opened one eye and took a peek at Humphrey who had dragged his body next to me. He had the goofiest smile possible planted on his face as he pretended to be asleep with his small snorts. I smirked as I warped ma tail behind my back to give him more room as I closed my, this time really going to sleep.
END OF FLASHBACK: back to Kate sitting in the boxcar. {A/N: I really need to make the puppyhood scenes a bit more childish and cuter but my mind is a complicated one unable to simplify things:'( sorry! }
THIRED POV: KATE time set: night location train cart on their way to jasper
Kate's head was hurting as if someone was digging their claws into it as it struggled to keep herself from falling unconscious. She didn't know how she forgot something so important but remembering all those stuff so suddenly made her want to bash her head against the floor. She could feel the blood pulsate in her head.
Kate tried taking deep breaths as her claws drove themselves into the wooden floor to stop the world from spinning around. She knew the world wasn't really spinning but her mind thought otherwise as well as her stomached, it seemed.
Thankfully she didn't! after calming down a little, her eyes snapped themselves to the sky and sure enough the fallen angel was there as it always were.
Expect, the wolf's wings looked like they were heading towards the sky instead of falling.'humm… that means we still have a long way to go till we reach jasper" she thought as she calculated how many hours they have been travelling and how many were left till they reached jasper.
By her calculations they would reach jasper by dawn, of course this was the first time she was traveling by train so her calculation could be a little off.
With that conclusion in her mind, she glanced over at a snoring Garth and a snoozing Dakota. She knew that they couldn't both return home. She may not be as smart as her sister but she wasn't lacking any, either. She feared if they returned together, Tony might force their marriage to unite the packs and she had no way to know if Humphrey's parents had found a way to change Tony's mind yet! At least, not from here.
Just then, some flapping sounds were heard from afar. Kate turned around and saw marcel and paddy
Flying beside the train. Kate moved back a little to give them room to land.
"bonjour Kate! You seem as energetic as ever." Marcel said stretched his bones after the long flight.
"hi." Said paddy waving. he was carrying all the golf clubs_ well, they are technically sticks in Kate's mind but whatever…_ in his handmade leaf bag.
"hey guys! what's up?" Kate greeted them as she waved back at paddy. She then lifted her paw up to her head, shuffling it through her mane to make it look better. Last thing she needed was getting stress advice from a duck and a goose. She wasn't being rude! It was one of those things you would to never experience in your lifetime as a wolf or anything actually! Like sharing your personal problems with two birds!
"nothing much, we lost a really good golf ball because paddy couldn't find it after a shot!" Marcel said in his French accent as he glared at Paddy.
"PFF…might I add sir that, you that is was you who shot a ball straight into the bottom of the lake when we are on a TRAIN that is moving 105 mph {A/N: yes I googled that! (^_^)}!" Paddy said pointing his wing like a finger at Marcel.
"whoaa?! How dare you say my aim is bad?! I can shoot a hole in one with one wing tied behind my back! In fact, I don't even need a wing! I can use my beak!" Marcel said, looking at paddy from the top of his beak!
Paddy started to say something again but Kate stepped in, shushing them before they could make any more noise.
"hey guys keep it down!" she said in a hushed tone." They are sleeping." She motioned towards Garth and Dakota who looked they were deep asleep.
" oh sorry we didn't notice." They both whispered quietly looking embarrassed as they shushed each other.
'birds!' Kate thought rolling her eyes. "So why did you come down here? The whether up top got too chilly for ya?" Kate asked the two birds with a sly grin.
Yes! they were on the top of the train! Unlike the wolves who preferred a more closed off environment, the bald goose and his fellow duck had decided they liked the roof or 'VIP section' as they called it more, saying it was more suitable for them. However, Kate couldn't understand how they weren't disturbed by the wind but let it slide as a 'bird thing'
"oh no the weather is all fine thank you." Marcel said shaking his wing, clearly not getting the joke behind Kate's words. "We just wanted to tell you that the train will have a stop in between jasper and Idaho for a cargo check." The goose said.
" ohh!" Kate said as she instantly understood what they were trying to say." I take it that, we have to go the rest of the way by foot right?" she asked just to be sure and for another reason that was keeping her mind busy.
"unforcedly the first class trip we promised got demoted to a lower one but we can hook you guys up with another train in a day or so!" paddy promised, guilt consuming his features.
"it's alright paddy, you have done us more than enough! We are already deeply indebted to you two as it is." Kate affirmed." Plus, a little a walking won't be bad. We need to get back in shape!" Kate joked trying to lift their heavy spirits a little.
They both nodded." Well miss wolf, I will leave you to rest. You still have a few hours before we get near the station so make use of it." Marcel said coughing a few times and poked paddy with his wooden stick to get him to fly out.
"bye Kate!" they said goodbye as the flew above the train.
"yea… bye." Kate replied shortly as her mind was working like a race horse it almost hurt!
Kate grinned widely as she went over her plan in her head over and over again. 'That's it. This way I don't have to worry about anything else other than Humphrey.' She mused with a concerned voice.
After that the golden furred wolf went back inside the get some shuteye.
FIRST POV: Dakota
I listened silently as Kate went over her plan out loud thinking no one was listening and I had to admit it was quite a plan indeed! The was only one issue with it, I knew about it!
One part of me wanted to stop her because it was very dangerous even if she was a northern trained delta but on the other hand I wasn't sure it would be the right thing.
"interesting… very interesting." I muttered to myself as I finally closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
also special thanks to White Wolfie (XBO GT) and his friend who pointed out a huge mistake in the ranking system which I had to get around with adding stuff in the future! Thanks again guys! (really sorry I said this like after 4 months of us talking but I was busy-ish… I hope you're still reading XD)
love in, peace out!