Skylor fidgeted and hastily turned her ring as she, Garmadon, and the pack's lead healer Mystake sat at Kataru's bedside. In the early hours of that morning, the cub was found in the cubs' tent pale and very feverish. He had been rushed to the Mystake's tent to try and help him. Mystake said that the stress caused by Akita's leaving had helped weaken his immune system. That paired with the elements of the wild and his young age, caused Kataru to contract a terrible disease, possibly an infection.
She couldn't help but think that this was all her fault.
If she had only been more attentive, and not wallowing in her doubts and self-pity about how she was leading the pack. Skylor flinched as Kataur whimpered softly, no doubt his fever spiking. She softly took his scalding hand in her own, gently rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. She would never forget the sheer lifelessness Kataru displayed as they tried to awaken the boy. She had honestly thought he was dead until he released a weak, shaky breath.
It may have been weak and shallow, but to Skylor it was the greatest sound she had ever heard.
As they moved him to the healer's tent, some of the other cubs mentioned he looked a little tired and pale as they were all settling in for the night. The disease must have gotten worse as they all slept. Not to mention the raging infection that must have set in sometime during the night. Skylor looked back to Mystake, hoping she had come up with a way to fix this mess and help him. The red-haired girl was a skilled leader and hunter, but she was no pack healer.
Mystake was one of the oldest members of the wild pack and she was their best healer.
She had a wrinkled face with bushy gray eyebrows and gray hair tied in a low bun. She was wearing a dirty, torn, white T-shirt with a gray zippered sweater that was broken with white and red dots. She wore torn-up gray pants on her legs, with the right leg torn off just under the knee. As all three of them tended to Kataru's sickness, they all failed to notice they were being watched from the tent's opening. The strong smell of Mystake's herbs and potions successfully hid the onlooker's scent.
"He's burning up." The healer frowned as she wrung out the cold, wet cloth before she placed it back onto the cub's sweltering forehead.
"It's dark of the moon tonight." Skylor dismissed as she gathered more blankets.
"But he's never been this bad before," Garmadon argued and Skylor sighed.
"I'll bring him more water, and meat." She said and got up to leave, but Garmadon stopped her.
"It's Souls Night; no one eats anything, it's the code." He said a look of fear and worry on his face. He may not believe in Souls Night like the others of the wild pack, but he knew that if she kept going against these ancient traditions like this it could be the end of her. Breaking the rules of Souls Night might just be the straw that broke the camel's back. Who knows what the pack would do to her if she lost her title of Alpha?
"Yes, but this boy needs food." She insisted and left the healer's tent. She headed for the tent where they stored their food and came out with a small bowl that was filled with rabbit and deer meat. As she started walking back to the healer's tent, she saw that Acronix and Krux were standing beside a large tree a few feet from the tent. They were surrounded by all the cubs and a few other older werewolves. She recognized the formation as a storytelling circle. At first, she thought the twins were trying to distract the cubs, but she was quickly proved wrong.
"Long, long ago, the Gods commanded that living werewolves should have all the animals of the Earth to eat, except on Souls Night," Acronix explained to the group, before turning to face Skylor, but he didn't address her directly. "But the leader was a headstrong, stubborn creature; on the night of the long moon she gorged herself on succulent flesh, she had defied the Gods and no harm had come to her!"
"Until the sun came up the next morning because at that moment the leader was struck dead." Krux finished, looking Skylor dead in the eyes. The red-haired girl stood frozen for a second as all the other werewolves turned to see what she would do. After a few awkward moments of silent staring, Skylor's brow furrowed in defiance before she ripped a small chunk of meat out of the bowl and ate it in front of everyone. Most of them gasped in shock and horror, but Skylor ignored them and headed back to the healer's tent.
Mystake and Garmadon were waiting for her and judging by the looks on their faces, they had heard everything.
"It's an old superstition, nothing more." She shrugged off as she settled back into her seat next to Garmadon.
"Humans have their superstitions as well, some also fast as we do on Souls Night," Mystake replied, eyeing the bowl of meat as if it was poisoned or about to attack her.
"Yes, but they also break it if they're ill or injured!" Skylor snapped impatiently at the elder werewolves. They all fell silent at that as she tore off a small piece of meat and held it up towards the cub. "Kataru, eat this." She ordered gently and although reluctant, he took the piece and slowly ate it. He swallowed despite the pain, but the uncomfortably tense atmosphere didn't go away...
Night soon arrived and everyone except the night patrols all retreated to their tents to sleep, though some were worried for Kataru and their alpha. Despite Mystake's disapproval, Skylor asserted her role as alpha and made it clear she would spend the night watching over Kataru. She wasn't alone, however. Another cub from the pack called Berry had gotten scared for Kataru and Skylor's heart broke. The others may call her weak, but she couldn't bring herself to send the cub away. After some convincing, Mystake agreed to let Berry stay as well.
As Mystake gave Kataru some more medicine and Berry got ready to sleep, Skylor and Garmadon were setting up the lanterns in the healing tent.
Because werewolves were afraid of fire, they had to use fireflies trapped in empty glass jam jars. They had the lanterns hung on strings and there were a few scattered around on the floor. Fireflies were small and they didn't provide a lot of light but there was enough for Mystake to see what she was doing.
"I think the fever's getting worse," Mystake growled in frustration as Skylor finished setting up the last of the lanterns.
"T-The story is just a story, right?" Berry whimpered as she watched Kataru twitch and moan in pain as he slept.
"Humans also believe plenty of things that won't make sense to us." She smiled as she tucked the little girl in for the night.
"I hear they believe that when you get sick it's caused by monsters that are so small you can't even see them." Berry laughed lightly and Skylor and Garmadon shared a look. Although Skylor was happy to see her spirits she had to set her straight.
"Um, that's probably true." She admitted with a nervous chuckle, but this only confused and worried the little girl. "It sounds weird, but that's only because you don't understand." The alpha tried to explain, but it only confused the cub even more.
"Then how can anyone be sure they understand anything in this world?" She asked and Skylor froze. She turned to Garmadon and Mystake for help but they avoided her gaze. Instead of trying to explain it any better, Skylor chose to brush Berry off and told her to go to sleep. Within an hour, Berry was asleep and Garmadon had gone to his tent for the evening. Mystake was mixing up some more potions and healing salves. Sucking in what was supposed to be a steadying breath, the teen briefly scrubbed at her eyes.
Mystake wisely said nothing and instead started gently rubbing a green, odd-smelling paste into Kataru's sweaty forehead.
Skylor couldn't help the full-bodied shiver that racked her body as she watched the cub's chest struggle for each breath. It just wasn't right seeing the spirited, passionate boy like this. Skylor sighed as Mystake ordered her to rest before she ended up sick as well. As the red-haired girl settled in for the evening, she couldn't help but worry about what Acronix and Kruz had said. Even though she knew it was very unlikely for that story to be true, Skyloe couldn't help but worry if Kataru would survive the night...
The sun soon peaked over the horizon and the entire pack was up in an instant, waiting to hear any news. Garmadon was one of the first to awaken and he had rushed into the healer's tent to check on Skylor and Kataru. A crowd soon gathered around the tent. Everyone was starving since they hadn't eaten in a day and the smell of meat from the storage tent was almost overwhelming. But none of them could even think to eat until they heard if Kataru was alright.
Towards the back of the crowd, Acronix and Krux were silently plotting.
If Skylor had died, there would be no alpha, and that provided them with an opportunity. In a wild werewolf pack, the alpha succession is usually the firstborn of the current alpha. But since Skylor had no mate or children there wasn't an heir. When there was no direct heir, it was maybe passed onto other close relatives of the alpha. When there were no close or direct relatives then the pack elders would choose a suitable heir from noble pack members.
These might be distantly related to the alpha or not.
The heir need not necessarily be of the alpha's bloodline but someone trusted by the pack. Sometimes when the elders couldn't decide on an heir, it ended up in a fight for the strongest. All the twins would have to do was show the pack that they could be better leaders than Krux and Acronix. Even if the elders didn't approve of them as leaders, then they could just fight for it. There would be bloodshed, but neither of them was too concerned about that.
Bolobo growled, frustrated, and was this close to transforming and chewing and destroying everything that moved when Gravis despondently trudged his way over to him.
Shoulders slumped, he didn't even look up as he bonelessly collapsed to the ground next to the other werewolves. The other pack members could relate. Griffin was frozen, his eyes wide in terror and helplessness. Jacob had taken the other cubs out into the forest for a hunting lesson. Everyone else was still stuck waiting. Shade could tell that the others were trying their hardest to keep it together and be strong for the pack. The dark werewolf got it, he did, but it didn't make it any less exasperating.
Shaking his head, he wrapped his solid, well-toned arm around himself in a form of comfort.
Neuro was pacing around the camp and that in itself was worrying. But Neuro didn't care at that moment in time. There was still no word, after hours of waiting. It had been four hours since Garmadon had entered the tent and there was still no word. It had been eight hours of not knowing whether Kataru was going to pull through. He just hoped that news, any kind of news, would be given to them soon. He wasn't sure how much more they could take.
The only reason Karlof wasn't falling apart into a panicking mess, was because his pack needed him.
So he stayed strong, toughing it out in silence as he watched the others slowly fall apart with each minute. Tox, being a healer in training, had tried to get in but a snarl from Mystake kept her from entering the tent fully. As another hour passed, everyone was starting to get impatient. Just as some of them considered storming the tent, Mystake suddenly walked out, her face empty of emotion. Garmadon soon followed and he too gave nothing away.
There was a moment of silence and most of the pack was scared they had lost their alpha and another cub while the rest were already plotting their way to power.
All of a sudden Skylor walked out of the tent, holding Berry and Kataru's hands. All five of them had big smiles on their faces and Kataru looked like he had a clean bill of health.
"Is anyone else starving?" Skylor grinned and everyone erupted into cheers and howls as they ran to the storage tent. While everyone else was getting some meaty breakfast, Acronix and Krux shared a frustrated glare. They would have to figure out another way to take power from Skylor...
NEXT CHAPTER: A power struggle ensues when four young people and their teacher arrive at Ninjago after a fire at Granite Hills High...