A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews!

Vallama Mayhem: I couldn't thank you enough. If you didn't guess, that was Crystal (The pup) and her mother. Of course, you know how the story goes afterwards... :'C

Now, onto the second one-shot... Sinking! (Redone)


"But mama! I don't wanna leave!" My sister had her paws planted firmly in the damp soil below her. Clouds were thick on the horizon, and a brisk wind swept over us.

"For the last time Cloud, we are going! You and your brother are old enough to head to the summer hunting grounds." Mother held her head high, tail stiff and pointed straight. She waited impatiently a few pawsteps from our den. Father was out scouting elk carcasses that we could eat off of as we moved across the meadow. Now all we had to do was coax my stubborn sister towards the summer den.

"I don't care! This is where we grew up, I'm not going!" She protested, ears flat against her skull.

"Hun, we'll return next spring! Just calm down and come!" Mother was firm. I didn't blame her for being frustrated, if I was going to have to drag my sis across the creek I'd be furious by then.

But as always, Cloud had another protest to toss into the conversation.

"Why isn't this place enough? Why can't we stay here for the summer!?" She did have a point. But her feeble argument was useless in that situation.

"Because you two are too big for the den. It's no longer needed. We'll return and raise another litter together next spring. Now we're leaving, and that's final." Finally, before mother simply dragged her all the way to the summer grounds without a word. Cloud opened her mouth as if in an attempt to argue back, but she finally realized that she had no chance.

With that, mother turned and gave a flick of her tail, signaling for us to follow. Cloud rose from her spot on the ground and trailed after her, head down. I trotted along as well.

Bathed in silence, we made our way down the gentle slope that our den sat upon. The trees began to part. They gave way to a large meadow, the very creek that named our home cutting across it. Cloud paused and averted her gaze to our old home. A look of sorrow crossed her face. She was really attached to that place, and we all knew it.

Suddenly, her expression turned from sad to shocked, and then to panicked. At first I ignored it... yet as we continued to slowly make our way farther from the den, I noticed that Cloud had not moved a muscle since I last saw her. I stopped and glanced at mother, before darting back to Cloud.

"Sis, what is it? We have to keep going!" I murmured, nudging her gently. But she simply stood there, stiff as a tree trunk.

"L-l-l-look..." Her lips quivered as she lifted a paw and pointed just to the right of the den area.

My eyes widened as I turned my gaze to that location. A huge, hazel-brown furred grizzly bear. I could make out it's muscles from where we were. In fact, we weren't far from the beast. It was roughly a short run for an adult wolf to reach it! Panic swept through me. The creature brought itself to full height and glanced around, as if looking for it's next meal.

My gut instinct urged me to flee in terror, run to mom and never look back. Yet I was frozen, just like cloud. Paws planted in the ground idly. Unable to move.

Come on idiot, leave before it's too late! But I couldn't do it. I wasn't fast enough. Before long, it's nearly pitch black eyes fell on Cloud and I... the perfect afternoon snacks.

Then it ran. Thundering towards us, saliva dripping from it's massive jaws. "MOM!" I shrieked in horror. My mother wheeled around, only to gasp in fear as she spotted a hungry grizzly barreling down the slope towards her two surviving pups. I couldn't imagine what was going through her head at the moment.

It was too late. I prepared for my demise, forcing my eyes shut. The crushing weight of the grizzly's paw smashed against me. My eyes snapped open once again, and I caught a blur of my sister screaming and my mother chasing after me... along with crimson liquid glinting off the bear's claws. Pain jolted through me. I landed in a scarce patch of grass with a thud. My vision blurred, blackness creeping in from the edges. I tried to fight the darkness... and barely kept my eyes open. blood began to pool around my frail body.

The bear came back. This time it snatched my weakened body in it's jaws. It's fangs barely pierced my skin, yet the bear was holding me gently. It didn't want to turn it's kill into a messy, bloody pile of fur. My warm blood began to blur my vision itself. I coughed a bit, eyes rolling back a bit. My vision was shaky and it was all a big blur. Mother chased after me, teary eyed, while Cloud stumbled along behind.

The grizzly then decided something important. It decided to lose my family in the deep end of the water. Bad choice. It must have been a young grizzly, for any older bear could see what would happen due to the strong current.

It couldn't hold onto me. My body simply slipped from it's jaws. For a second it looked back with a frustrated, surprised look, but then decided that I wasn't worth the effort and climbed out.

The blood was wiped from my eyes, yet replaced with rushing water. I got my last glimpse of the surface before the current took me. I flailed my paws and kicked out, thrashing around in the water, yet it was no use. I was already weakened from the blow to my side. It wasn't long before I was engulfed in the stream. A few times my head would bob towards the surface, giving me a chance to draw a bit of air into my lungs. Yet nothing worked.

I began sinking. Darkness consumed my tiny body. My vision blurred. The water pummeled me against boulders scattered throughout the creek-bed. With each blow came more pain, too much for me to take. I opened my mouth in a soundless scream, but that only made it worse, allowing water to flood into my lungs. It burned. My lungs burned, my eyes burned... it all hurt.

That was the end. It was truly the end of me. By then I had accepted it. I was ready for the pain to be over and to ascend into the sky and be with my ancestors.


"Mars? Buddy please wake up!" A warmth wrapped around me, a calming sensation sweeping through my body. That voice I recognized... it was the voice of my father.

"D-dad?" I coughed, throat weak and sore. My eyelids were slowly lifted and my vision returned. My father lay curled around me, his snout pressed into my side. My mother sat next to us, my sister huddled against her side.

"We thought we lost you..." Mother had beady tears in her eyes.

"That bear nearly killed you, bro!" Cloud, for the first time in her life, looked somewhat worried. "It also gave you quite the injury."

I glanced over at my side. A few deep cuts that had just stopped bleeding remained, along with a very deep cut on my snout and face which I could only feel with my paws.

"I-I'm sorry..." Those were the only words I could muster. I was in shock. Whenever I opened my mouth nothing else came out.

"It wasn't your fault, my son. We retrieved you on the river-bank a little while ago. I found you while eating off an elk carcass. Your mother and sister followed."

Shock. Pure shock, fear and relief. That's all I felt. I was at a lose for words... and exhausted from all that I had been through. I just wanted to sleep. Just... want... sleep...

"Just want sleep..." I put my thoughts into words. My family would understand. They did. Mother and father nodded, along with Cloud. My heavy eyelids began to fall slowly, and warmth and darkness came to me again. But this time the darkness came in the form of a restful sleep...

So I welcomed it.


A/N: So, I redid this one... still not the best but better than the original. Based on the first wolves I had in my 2.7.2 WolfQuest playthrough. The parents are Skye and Astro. The two surviving pups are Mars and Cloud. Venus and Saturn were their sisters, but one starving and one was eaten by a cougar. R.I.P you two! Anyway, I've returned from my yellowstone trip and a few of these might be about animals from different species like Bison or River otters. It'll be fun to experiment with! Enjoy and be sure to review! :D