#azka pack

[theazkapack]

A little timeline of what the pack has been up to in their first spring! The idea from the pack timelines comes from @thesanctuarypack​, so go check their timelines out!!

[theazkapack]

Solitary

Born from a very big family, Glawn used to live without any worry in a sanctuary. Part from a breeding repopulation project, Glawn spent most of her life used to humans, life contained within the walls that formed the pen where she lived with her family.

Used to being surrounded by lots of other wolves, all of glawn’s family had been bred in captivity, with the exception of Glawn’s father, who had been a rescue. Although a little cramped place, Glawn lived happily in the sanctuary until she reached adulthood.

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Once Glawn became an adult, the humans started to act weird. They would slowly stop appearing around the pen, food already there when they left their den, everything already cleaned, and so on. Puzzled, Glawn’s family continued on with their lives, trying to not show the unease that it was filling them.

Every day was the same here, so this change was abrupt and out of the normal for them, causing them unneeded stress. The only wolf who managed to keep their cool was Glawn’s father, who had never managed to completely relax around the humans. Her father commented to her that this was a good change, as they walked around the perimeter in uncomfortable silence.

“This,” he had said, looking for the first time relaxed, “This could mean something good Glawn, do not fear change or it will always catch you off guard”

Life continued, as normal as it could be when the food stopped being brought dead and live prey slowly started being introduced, as humans fully stopped entering their territory, as they heard more and more sounds just outside their walls. They ignored it as best as they could, adapting to these strange changes in their once static territory.

One day, the prey that appeared was weird. It smelt like what litters used to smell before, and the goat did not struggle once while it was moved or killed. They ignored it, as they did with everything before it, and ate. It was not until hours later that Glawn woke up, disoriented and dizzy in a moving crate.

The air was crisp and cold, her breath appearing before her eyes for the first time ever. She could hear her siblings waking up around her, in similar crates, but no one could find a trace of their parents. Once everyone woke up they did a headcount, noticing that half of their siblings weren’t with them. Outside their cages, everything smelled strange and new, and one of her sisters even reported seeing the ocean nearby.

It was not until hours later when Glawn and her siblings were finally freed from their cages. They stood dizzy and warily there, as they watched the humans load the cages up and leave them behind, in this strange new land. They were in a meadow, the big open sky looming above them, with no walls in sight. They huddled together, deciding to wait until all were not longer dizzy to explore around.

The first days were harsh for them, not used to the wilderness most of her siblings quickly got loads of injuries. All prey quickly left the meadow, escaping each time any of them tried to hunt. In short, everything was going bad.

And it got worse when the worst of winter hit, blizzards hitting hard in the middle of them trying to leave the meadow in search of good places to live. The storm did not let up, worsening with every second they spent outside. In the middle of this Glawn was accidentally left behind, lost in the middle of the blizzard as she tried to find her siblings. Lost and cold, she wandered until she found an abandoned fox den, crawling into it, in search of warmth and safety from the blizzard outside.

She hunkered down there until steps from outside woke her up from her napping. She watched as another wolf entered the den, shivering as their black shape stopped dead blank when seeing her. Glawn wasn’t averse to sharing and invited the other in. They spent the entire night huddled together, sharing warmth as the blizzard raged outside.

Come morning, the two got outside, taking in the frozen place they were in. Snow extended as far as their eyes could tell, the sun barely shining between the dense clouds that covered the skies.

Ashlen, as the other wolf introduced themself, reminded Glawn achingly of her father. With a dark coat covered in silver hairs, blue eyes, and the walk of a predator, one didn’t have any doubt this was a truly wild animal of these lands. Ashlen smelled like ice and wilderness, something that awakened an old instinct inside Glawn. Ashlen looked like a true wild wolf, walking with the same posture her dad had all of his life.

At the invitation to join them, Glawn didn’t hesitate a single second before accepting, knowing that if she joined them only then she would survive. Glawn was fast, but she lacked all knowledge needed to survive in the wilderness. She was determined to find her siblings again, but maybe, for now, she could enjoy the peace with Ashlen a bit more.

They moved on, Glawn following Ashlen lead as they evaded the blizzards and storms of the waning winter, until they got to the mountains. There, where abandoned caves were big enough to accommodate a full pack, with lakes nearby to drink as much as needed and trees to cover them from the worst of the climate; they settled down.Glawn didn’t know what the future could hold for her and Ashlen, but she wasn’t too worried about it, safe in the knowledge that with the dark wolf beside her, she wouldn’t be caught off guard again.

[theazkapack]

Documentary: Lannel and Shivo

As Ashlen and Glawn settled down into their new territory, two brothers continue on their trek in finding a pack to belong to, deciding to try their luck on the mountains beyond.

Shive and Lannel are not afraid to admit they lived a sheltered life in their youth. It would be stupid to say otherwise, they both knew well their story.

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Some of Shivo’s earliest memory is warmth, white walls around him as he drank from the milk he was offered. Warm hands handling him carefully, feeding him and taking care of him until he was old enough to be able to walk. His world as a pup consisted of white walls, a fire always lit and a couple of humans taking care of him.

Of course, in that time he did not have a name for the fire nor for his caretakers; he named them warmth and parents respectively, always around his siblings and his parents taking care of him. Lannel had been a stable fixture in his life, his sibling being besides him almost all the time.

Once they were old enough to survive the cold, they were introduced to more wolves, him and all of his siblings. The pack towered over them, whining excitedly, happy to meet them. They would spend a few hours outside everyday, talking with the grown ups as they were taught about what to expect from the outside.

Life was relatively easy, not having to hunt as the humans frequently brought them carcasses before they could even get hungry. Most of their worries were about letting the older wolves check frequently on them and play around in the snow and ice cold water. The only danger they could think of was cougars, who sneaked from time to time into their enclosure; but they were always chased out inmediately, the elders not wanting a repeat of what had happened to one of their sisters before.

The humans were always there too, carrying strange black boxes everytime they went outside to see them, hanging back and always ready to offer affection if any asked.

It was... peaceful...

But life progresses, and soon they were shipped in boxes and freed in a completely new place. Shivo and Lannel were the first liberated, as the youngest from the pack, soon followed by their siblings and then the elders. The humans soon left them, the pair who had raised them giving them pats before also leaving too.

The pack tried to stay optimistic, when they realized the humans were not coming back. They tried hunting, but as all their food was brought dead already and the most hunting they ever did was chasing after the odd mouse in their enclosure, well... easy to say they weren’t doing good.

Chased off by nearby packs, the members were slowly picked off, one by one. Either by injury, predators or by famine, soon most of the wolves had died, leaving behind a couple elders, Shivo and Lannel. The brothers, not wanting to end up dead like their siblings, soon took off on their own, decided to try and find a new place to live, or at least, a pack that could take them in.

Beaten and malnourished, they found themselves in the Azka territory by Glawn in one of her scouts. Taking pity on the poor wolves, Glawn brought them to the den she shared with Ashlen, giving them some food the pair had.

When Ahslen returned, they instantly gave permission for the brothers to stay, knowing that the siblings would not survive on their own, even if spring was already here. Shivo and Lannel, not wanting to give up this golden opportunity, soon accepted.

Life was looking good again for them, and knew that together, they had little to fear.

[theazkapack]

The Beginning

Ashlen was a strange wolf.

Silent and stoic, one would doubt sometimes the wolf was even alive, from how little they reacted to things around them. Their family grew to resent them, for they did not seem to know how to communicate with normal wolves. Never seeming to help outside of occasionally helping out with the litters, Ashlen soon grew to be a dead weight for their family.

Their old pack wasn’t ashamed to admit they were glad Ashlen had disappeared, that fateful misty morning when Ashlen decided to patrol their territory.

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That morning, sensing the hostility in the air and how tense everyone was around them, Ashlen decided to go out and patrol their pack’s territory, since nobody wanted them around. Wandering to the edge of it, they sniffed around and quickly pranced towards a dead prey that was laying in the middle of some strange dark dirt. Ashlen quickly started eating it, deciding to at least get a snack out of this deal.

Unfortunately, so focused they were on their snack that they never did see the car speeding down the road.

Injured and almost killed, Ashlen was quickly brought to a wildlife rehabilitation center, where they would spend almost four months slowly recovering from their injuries. They would spend most of their time on quarantined, isolated from the other wolves of the center, as humans feared they weren’t the same species and would fight. Instead, Ashlen would spend most of their time in the company of the rehabilitators, constantly monitored in case their condition worsened.

Once they were all healed up, they were released in a completely different place from what their old pack territory was. Knowing deeply that they wouldn’t see their family ever again, Ashlen set off into the unknowns of these new lands, hoping for a new beginning. But nothing was easy for them, as the locals spoke way too different to what they were used to, and no matter how much Ashlen tried, they couldn’t manage to maintain any kind of positive relationship with any of the lone wolves around. Disappointed and almost ready to give up, Ashlen tried to find refuge from a snow blizzard into what they hoped was an abandoned fox den.

Finding themself face to face with a brightly colored wolf, wasn’t what they expected, Ashlen fully prepared to be chased out in an instant. Fortunately, the other canine was friendly and let them spend the night in the shared den, the two strongly pressed against the other, chasing away the infernal cold of the outside.

Come morning, Ashlen learned the other’s name, Glawn. The bright wolf was kind and sociable, easily understanding Ashlen when they tried to communicate. Desperate as they had finally found a friendly face, Ashlen quickly offered Glawn to join them in their journey into finding a place to settle down. Surprisingly, the she-wolf quickly accepted and so they went on, exploring around until after one week, they settled down, for now, deep in the mountains.

Only the future knows what it can hold for the newly created pack.

[theazkapack]

Wild: Mosra

[ID: A light brown wolf, with beige paws, muzzle and neck, with a brown marking along the upper back and green on the sides. End ID.]

Integrated into the pack alongside Jet, Mosra is the only other wild wolf from the pack, besides Ashlen. Raised in the harshness of the Tundra, Mosra learned early on how to survive, which she now teaches to her new pack, hoping the human-raised wolves she now lives with will manage to thrive in the thriving mountain the pack is located in.

Born to an already numerous pack, Mosra constantly had to fight her way into earning her place, going into so many hunting parties that by her second year she already was bringing the majority of the pack’s food, despite only being afforded a few bites because of her age. She would constantly fight with her siblings, in an effort to show herself as someone worthy of a higher station to the leaders, however, everything would go soon to waste.

When she was four years old, she already could not run as fast as before, her paws fragile and constantly in pain from overworking herself. causing her to start going less and less in hunts. The pain made her more irritable, and would snap at others frequently, which lowered even more the already poor vision the pack had of her.

In fear of this, she tried to pick up her pace, but pain made her slow, and her focus was almost non-existent each time she went out. Driven to almost the edge by the resentful rumors of her packmates, who were very annoyed with her from being “lazy” and wasting resources, she started to try to hunt at night. And during one night, slow and weak from the pain, she did not notice the bear trap laying on the floor until it was too late, almost losing her paw.

She barely managed to escape, only to, when having returned home, be confronted by her pack. The supplies were running low, and the Tundra was already a scarce place for prey, and so, Mosra was exiled from her pack, as she would not be able to contribute if injured. While leaving her former’s pack territory, she met Jet, a human-raised wolf, who she struck a close friendship with. The other cared for her injuries, and soon, they started traveling together, in search of a place to stay, surviving on leftovers and rotting carcasses.

Found by Ashlen and welcomed into the pack, Mosra tries her best to help, part of the hunting party to teach the others how to hunt. Sarcastic and almost mean to a point, she is very loved by the pack, and is to who most wolves go when in need of advice, the perfect packmate to talk to when needing to vent. She’s still discovering how to be happy without sacrificing herself, but the pack will help her find herself.

[theazkapack]

The Released: Jet

[ID: A brown wolf, with lighter colored paws and darker back, with a slight purple hue in the fur. End ID.]

Found with Mosra, and integrated in the pack since the winter of the first year, Jet is a dedicated worker, helping around in whatever they can, normally helping with taking care of the pups.

From a sanctuary a few miles away from the pack, Jet was a animal ambassador for a big town, living quite happily in their closed enclosure with a few other wolves. While the wolves with which they cohabited were not their pack, Jet always tried their best to get close to them, despite the numerous rejections they got, as they had come from a zoo more inland, bred and raised in the chaos of the city, a stranger to the family that already lived in the sanctuary.

Eventually, everything came to an end, when during a violent protest from extremist animal activists, Jet, alongside all the wolves and other animals of the sanctuary, was released, the activists breaking in and cutting open the wires holding the animals.

In the chaos of it, Jet slipped away, running into the forests nearby and not stopping until all signs of humans nearby had disappeared. From then on, Jet wandered non-stop, surviving on rotting carcasses and left overs from other predators in the area, until they met Mosra, a wild wolf who had been driven away from her former pack because of her injured paw, which made it impossible for her to hunt.

Helping nurse her back to health, Jet and Mosra travelled together since then, exploring the territories around until they stumbled into Ashlen during a harsh winter. Invitated into the pack, Jet and Mosra kept themselves to the edge of the den, not sure of their place in the drama-filled pack they had landed on. It wasn’t until the next spring that the duo decided to stay, becoming a permanent fixture of the pack.

Independent, Jet tends to do their own thing, preferring to care for the pups and help around in minor tasks, as they are, to this day, awkward and unsure of how to socialize with the others. They care for the pack, nonetheless, and is frequent to see them keeping guard over the kids, in company of either Ashlen, who they became close friends with, or Mosra, their most trusted companion.

[theazkapack]

The Siblings: Aursa

[ID: A wolf with a gold coat and a red and beige marking along the back. The underside is a faded white. End ID.]

One of the youngest of the surviving family, Aursa was stuck constantly trying to relieve tension in their small pack as they were released in the unforgiving wild.

Having been released in the beginning of winter, the family barely had any idea of what to do, and Aursa was left floundering, trying desesperatly to keep the family together, despite how difficult surviving was. His combative nature was not helpful, despite his efforts, 

Having been raised in a sanctuary, not a single one of the wolves knew how to react, and they were slowly started to be picked off, as they waltzed from danger into danger, no matter how much his sister tried, they started to lose everyone. Forced to take the difficult decisions, to continue on after their siblings got lost in the storm, the family went towards the mountains, desesperate for shelter in the incoming winter.

Famine fell onto the pack like swift vultures, and Aursa watched it all happen, as his sisters tried luck with nearby packs and getting rejected, or even worse, killed. He tried his best to help out, but prey was scarce and no matter how much he tried, everything kept running away from him.

With only Clower and Honsu left, both heavily pregnant, they ended up in the territories of the Azka pack, without a care for the claims that had been laid down already, trying their best to survive there on rotten carcasses and left overs, until they were found by the pack.

Combative and slightly aggressive, Aursa loves to fool around and spar with his new packmates, despite how sometimes they are unwilling participants. He is knwon for teasing Glawn relentlessly, and while he thinks that Ashlen is a bit young to lead the pack, he respects their position.

Aursa quickly manages to integrate into the pack, and hopes, for the sake of her sister, that they manage as well.

[theazkapack]

The Siblings: Honsu

[ID: A wolf with a golden coat, a dark red and brown markings on the back and white underside. End ID]

The oldest of the surviving siblings, Honsu took over once her family was released onto the wild.

Having been released in the beginning of winter, the family barely had any idea of what to do, and Honsu rose to the ocassion, trying her best to care for the rest of her family, as the group started to investigate the wild.

Having been raised in a sanctuary, not a single one of the wolves knew how to react, and they were slowly started to be picked off, as they waltzed from danger into danger, no matter how much Honsu tried, she started to lose everyone. Forced to take the difficult decisions, to continue on after her siblings got lost in the storm, she guided the rest towards the mountains, running herself ragged to try to keep everyone alive.

Famine fell onto the pack like swift vultures, and Honsu was witness to the winter snuffing out the life of her siblings, standing vigil before the corpses as the cold continued on. Some of her sisters had gotten pregnant with a lone wolves, or tried luck with already established packs in the territory, always ending up dead or exiled away. 

With only Clower and Aursa left, Honsu focused on doing anything to survive, stealing carcasses left behind by other predators, and guiding her siblings to whatever small clearing they could stay for the night. Having gotten pregnant by accident after trying her luck with a previous lead wolf from another pack, Honsu guided Clower, who also had gotten pregnant, and Aursa to the territories of the Azka pack, without a care for the claims that had been laid down already.

Bossy and rigid, Honsu decided to stay with the Azka pack until her pups have been born, knowing they wouldn’t survive the harsh of the winter without the protection of other wolves. She disdains the other wolves that aren’t her family, and finds Ashlen an awful lead for how young they are. 

Time will tell, if Honsu will manage to adapt to the new pack or will stay in her ways.