Supernovas

Cygnus

We were on a journey, going no where in particular. Time didn’t really matter to us, the only thing we focused on was the path ahead of us. Traveling wasn’t a new concept to us, but this trek was different from the rest. We were leaving our old home for good.

My sister took the lead, she always had more energy and enthusiasm than I did. She never really did get tired, though we stopped frequently for the sake of meals and water. It’s been roughly four hours since we last stopped so I called out to her telling her to take a break. If it wasn’t for me she would probably forget breaks existed.

We plopped down by a river bank and I took my shirt off to soak it in the shallow water, it was hot out and I’d rather my shirt be soaked in fresh water than sweat. My sister yawned and laid back on the ground, staring up at the clouds. Her eyelids hung heavily over her  eton blue eyes, she seemed more tired now than she did three minutes ago. Her pupils still danced with energy though, a fire always burning in them. Though my sister was older than me, she didn’t always act it. Frankly, she rarely acted like the older sibling. I dont mind, we took care of each other and that’s all that matters to me.

I drained my shirt of the excess water. My shirt was now damp and wrinkled, and the sheer loose cotton was getting more and more frail each time I twisted the fabric to get rid of the liquid. Our clothes were raggedy to say the least, but they covered us, and that was more than we could ask for. I pulled the cloth back over my torso and laid back onto the grass next to my sister. The sun was bright and floated dead center in the sky, but the heat was bearable. It had to be around 2 or 3pm.

Our breaks never lasted much more than 30 minutes. It had been an hour since we got up and left the river bank, still following the trail we began on. Hunger had set in, and luckily for us we weren’t too far from the meadows. My sister wouldn’t tolerate the heat and hunger, and I don’t want to be near my sister when her stomachs is growling. Without word, I took the lead and change our route, abandoning the trail we were being comforted by. My sister took no time in turning herself into a beautiful she-wolf, her eton eyes now vivid in the dim light of the falling sun. She was bulky and strong, but her feminine structure never left her. I followed suit, my body morphing down into a much smaller, more lean figure. I jogged up to her brushing my sandy coat against her ashy brown mane.

She looked a lot like our father, but the had the eyes of our mother. Our mother always had determination and power engraved into her eyes, while our father took on a more gentle and calm expression. Their eyes were a perfect reflection of their souls, and although they were now old and frail, their eyes never changed.  

My sister and I were both pretty evenly matched, though she was stronger and I was faster. Her vision easily excelled mine, with that she was usually better at finding our kill….and that’s exactly what she did. Within minutes my sister sprinted away, only to slow down and crouch behind a young elk. It was common rule and knowledge to always hunt the older ones, but right now it was just easier for us. Why waste a whole elk when we can fill ourselves on a small kid and hunt it in a short amount of time, an easy kill. I looped around the kid, and pounced to scare it towards my sister. It makes sense to lead it towards her, seeing as she’s stronger and can pull it down with minimal effort. If all else fails and she misses, then I’d be able to chase it easily.

With out fail my sister lunged upward and locked her jaw on the bottom of the kids neck, pulling him into the dirt in just one tug. I ran in an bit the calfs hind leg. It didn’t take long for the calf to stop struggling, and my sister let go of it neck, letting the top half fall limp on the ground to join the rest of its body.

We ate fast. With the new energy we gained, we ran until the sun was long gone past the horizon. We settled for the night under an oak tree in a crowded forest. My sister nuzzled under my chin and we curled into each other, using our warmth to fight the chilly air. We stayed close to the edge so we would wake when the sun came up.

 

 

 

Before the first drizzle of light from the sun could wake us, we were scared awake by two long, deep, howls. Even being an outsider, I immediately recognized the howls as an intruder warning. Two wolves had come across us, and clearly word had already traveled to their alpha. I stood up first, the hair on my main pricked up to make me look more intimidating. My sister got up just as quickly, not really needing to perch her mane up, but she did so anyway. In front of us stood a lanky, rusty-ash brown wolf  with a dark muzzle to match his deep set eyes. Next to him was a much smaller counterpart, thought bulkier in build. He was a dark grey wolf, borderline black, with light hairs around his eyes and muzzle that traveled down his chest. They both stood side by side, showing us their gums and sharp canines, and occasionally snarling at us.

This wasn’t our place to fight, and the obvious answer would be to turn around and head another way. I began to do so but the shorter one lunged at me, handing square on my back and locking his jaw on the crest of my neck. I yelped in surprise and my sister immediately launched herself at the lanky partner. It was easier to defend myself alone than drag my sister in and create a bigger mess, and she knew this. I flipped my body over and rolled over the dark male, slamming my backbone into his stomach as hard as I could. He let go of me in a dry gasp, heaving when I propped myself back up. I turned around and saw my sister and the brown wolf collide. They formed an ash blur as they flipped and spun and nipped at each other.

I turned back around to finish the mini war that was started, only to find the shadowy wolf propped up on his side, staring intently at me.

His aggressive demeanor hadn’t left his body, but he wasn’t in any position to lunge at me.

I turned around to look at my sister only to find that the brown wolf had also backed away from her. He looked over at his shrimpy partner and gave him a whispered ‘yip!’.

My sister sighed and stood up to come back towards me.

“Korra, let’s get moving.” She said as she glared back at the wolf she was fighting just a few seconds ago, before bumping my side to push me towards the closing of the forest again.

The dark wolf then stood up and puffed his chest out giving us a menacing glare.

“Stay where you are, we need to take you to our Alpha. You know the rules of the wolf territories. Once you engage a fight, you must finish it.” His voice was deep and shook through my ribs, but there was no anger laced in his words.

“Kyungsoo, just let them go. They clearly weren’t here for trouble.” The brown wolf added to the conversation, but before he could say another word, a third wolf appeared, and then a fourth.

“What’s the problem here? Who are you and why are you sleeping in our territory? Jongdae? Kyungsoo?” The wolf spoke in a strict tone but you could tell he also didn’t seem very upset. His coat was rusted brown, a good amount of shades lighter than the wolf presumably named 'Jongdae’.

“Nothing, they’re alone. They just fell asleep here, they didn’t realize it wasn’t a free to roam area.” Kyungsoo replied dryly. The wolf seemed tired and overall done with the situation.

“I see…where are you two coming from?” The question was directed at us, though he only stared at my sister. The wolf behind him had yet to say a word, and I assumed he was only there for show rather than negotiation. I stepped forward and spoke. “Were just traveling, passing through. We didn’t mean to intrude into your territory, were not looking for a fight.” I nudged my sister before she could even open . My sister was mouthy and I knew if she would’ve replied then we would be fighting again. I continued..“We just needed a place to rest, we were leaving in early morning. I’m sorry for causing you trouble. We’ll be on our way if you let us..”. He sighed. I took a looked around us, all four of them seemed tired and stressed. None really looked like they wanted to cause us any more trouble, and I know the feeling was mutual.

“If I don’t bring you back to the alpha then we will all get in trouble. He won’t hurt you or anything, he just wants to give you an earful…really it’s not that bad, just sit through it and then leave..” he spoke with an almost regretful tone in his voice but a bit of humor and sympathy leaked into it. I exhaled and before my sister could protest, I hurriedly agreed.

Their den wasn’t far from our location, and now that I’ve seen it, i can’t believe we didn’t notice it when we were walking. The wolf I was speaking to earlier introduced himself as Junmyeon and then proceeded to introduce the quiet one as Jongin. Now looking at Jongin, I noticed just how young he seemed next to the other three. Although young, he towered over the others, his chest was broad and his body was covered in muscle. I assumed he was a warrior at first glance, and later found out that my assumption was correct.

My sister stayed quiet during the small trip to their den, ignoring the pestering questions that Jongdae seem to have a list of. She was clearly still tired, and not in the mood to make chit-chat with an annoyingly persistent wolf. Junmyeon looked just as ticked as she did, but he have her a look of humored-sympathy. I chuckled lightly at the situation, shutting my muzzle when my sister gave me a side eye glance. The questions from Jongdae stopped as soon as we made it past the door, only to start again but this time being asked by a big, jet black wolf, by the name of Yifan.

Yifan was the Alpha, and no doubt an amazing one at that. I didn’t have to know him to figure out the kind of leader he was. Even from an outsiders point of view, his natural born leader aura clearly radiated from his body. I bowed respectfully to him when we entered and my sister stayed standing with a bored and bothered expression on her face.

“Audra. Bow…..Now…” I whispered, only to have her snicker and puff her chest up, completely ignoring me.

I rolled my eyes and stood back up. The four wolves that escorted us found this to be very amusing until their alpha cleared his throat, shutting them all up instantly.

He gave us a nice long lecture. Starting with “Do you realize what you have done?” And ending with “What are we to do now? ” with a lot of 'who’s? What’s? Where’s? and Whys?’ in between. He seemed exasperated at the situation. Jongdae peeped up, clearly this one isn’t very filtered and just as cheeky as my sister. He suggested having us stay and work for their pack for three weeks, helping them prepare for their winter migration up north, as a way of apologizing and dropping all charges of our stupidity.

I hurriedly agreed once again before my sister could protest. She knew it was better to compensate with this than to have to declare this pack an enemy. Two rogue wolves don’t exactly want to be making enemies with a pack of wolves that are clearly at a member advantage.

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DaMeepster
#1
Chapter 4: Liking the story so far.. looking forward to the rest of it