01-25-2008, 05:04 PM
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Pack life was a strange new experience. Phoenix had been in Storm for just a few days but thus far he had only caught fleeting glimpses of the other wolves that were a part of this community, and he was too nervous to approach any. What if they didn’t like him? What if they grew impatient with him for being a stupid, uneducated mongrel? He barely knew what it meant to be a wolf, or how he was supposed to act. But at least he was safe from predators, though they hadn’t bothered him for quite some time. And food wasn’t so hard to find. He’d been gorging himself on rabbits lately, tired or deriving sustenance from bugs. Phoenix sat down to enjoy his latest catch when his senses alerted him of another wolf nearby. He didn’t look so good, so after a moment’s hesitation he approached his supposed pack mate and struck a deal with him: he could have his rabbit if he answered a few questions for him. It was an acceptable loss, considering how he’d walked away from the encounter with a little more knowledge of pack life. And, he had this warm feeling inside him from helping the other wolf. He found he liked helping others, and wanted to do it again soon if he could… If only he had more to offer. ***
He had finally made his first real friend—a little girl who, like himself, was an orphan. Her name was Ember, and in just the space of a few minutes she had already shown him more kindness than anyone since his parents. The young male was convinced that hey needed each other—after all, without parents to look after them, who else? She was lucky, though, since she’s said she had a secondary family in another pack… but he wanted to be there for her too, since they probably couldn’t understand what she was going through like he did. What could he do to show her his loyalty as a friend, though? He didn’t know what she liked, so he would share what was most precious to him: food. Growing up he’d been hungry much more often than not, and food of any kind was a rare commodity. Surely she had plenty to eat, but it was the only way he knew how to return the kindness she’d shown him. It took him a couple hours, but finally he managed to catch a good-sized rabbit, which he happily laid at the entrance of her den for when she came home. That night he curled up under a fallen tree with his new blanket wrapped around his body and lulled himself to sleep with happy thoughts of the good times he hoped to have with his new friend. |