#cracking ice

[tanuki-kimono]

Quiet late autumn/early winter antique outfit, pairing a hushed grey kimono with leaves falling over spidery ground (probably kori-wari/cracking ice), and a beautifully matching leaves patterned purple-to-white ombre haori.

The antique chuya-obi (meaning it has a different pattern on reverse) has a striking impressionist painting pattern. Note how the striped obiage colors nicely tie the whole outfit together.

[dem0nsiget-wolvden]

I finally got a Howlite pup from Abaise and Kotsim!

Her other three siblings are just ‘blah’, to the point I’m not even gonna share them here and waste space XD

But super excited about her! I named her Cracking Ice, and I love her already. She doesn’t have any markings, but I honestly think Howlite is one of those bases that doesn’t need markings to look good.

So yeah, super happy with her!

[dbaydenny]

Thin encouragement

cracking underneath my feet

like first winter ice.

D W Eldred

[terra-formed]

Inktober day 12: Shattered Tip that everyone should know: To get off a lake of cracking ice, lay on your belly and spread out your weight. Hold something sharp, like keys, in your hand to help grip the ice, especially if you are to fall in. Crawl back the way you came.

[dem0nsiget-wolvden]

Cracking Ice first heard a tree snapping, but thought nothing of it. It was far enough away, there was absolutely no way it posed any threat to the camp.

She didn’t worry until she heard what she could swear was thunder, but she knew there was no way that could be true.

She stood up from where she’d been sunning herself, her ears pricked, before she leapt up onto the rock she used for announcements, looking around where she could see.

And what she saw, made her freeze in place.

Trees falling in a trail down the mountain, and between them, flashes of raging water.

A flash flood.

Cracking Ice let out a sharp howl of alarm as she leapt down, running to the nearest den, barking as she did.

“Everyone up! Get up! Now! Flood!”, she barked, running through the camp, those that had been napping looking surprised, the others barking as well.

Cracking Ice turned, seeing Atka herding their three pups towards the entrance of the camp.

Cracking Ice suddenly wondered exactly where they could go, and she didn’t have a lot of time to think.

“This way! I know a safe place to go!”, Snowswept Stone barked, running past her.

“Everyone, follow Snowswept!”, she howled, watching as everyone ran out after him, waiting until most of them were out to follow, glancing back slightly, to see water seeping towards the outside wall of camp, towards the river to the north.

Cracking Ice just turned, forgetting that, and ran after the pack, following their trail up the mountain slope, feeling water trickle down in some places, but could tell this path was relatively safe.

It was a bit later when she got to where the pack had gathered, hearing barks of families checking they were all there, already seeing Atka bunched up with their three pups, relaxing at that, walking over to Snowswept Stone.

“Is everyone here?”, she asked, glancing around.

He nodded slightly, looking winded, one paw held in the air, blood slowly dripping down from it. “Yes, I already counted.”, he said. “Everyone is safe and accounted for, if not a bit banged up. I think Kasota got it the worst, he took a twig to the eye, Husa’s looking him over right now.”

Cracking Ice nodded at that, glancing down at where she could see now the trail of the flood. The water didn’t seem to be coming down anymore, just the first surge, which seemed to be at the camp now.

She watched with a lump in her throat as it tore right through the north half of the camp, seeing it rip bushes and dens away.

“At least everyone’s safe. And Husa’s den is far enough away that it should be safe.”

Cracking Ice glanced over when she heard Atka’s voice, shoving her muzzle against his, finally letting herself shake slightly.

Atka nuzzled her back, licking her muzzle gently. “It’s ok, we’re ok.”, he said.

She just leaned into him, glancing down when she felt a nose against her shoulder, seeing Tundra, Taiga, and Glacier all pressed around the two of them.

She dropped her head down and licked Taiga’s forehead, just as she heard a howl.

“Where’s my mother!? Where is she?”

Cracking Ice straightened up, to see Sun Shower looking around frantically. She looked, and saw that she was right, Anpa wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Cracking Ice’s heart dropped at that.

“We have to go back, we have to find her!”, Sun Shower howled, turning to go back down the mountain, Crowley lunging forward to grab his mate.

Snowswept Stone looked over and met Cracking Ice’s gaze. They both knew that if she wasn’t here, she was gone.

“Sun Shower...”, Cracking Ice said, walking over, just as the golden she-wolf gave a sorrowful howl, collapsing down to the ground, Crowley licking her forehead and muzzle, whining softly.

Cracking Ice glanced around at the others, this time looking over all of them, going over names in her head, until she was convinced everyone else was here.

She should have known escaping without any casualties would be next to impossible, but she had been hoping.

And now, here they were, with half of a camp, mourning a lost packmate.

Cracking Ice didn’t know how much heartache they could take.

[dem0nsiget-wolvden]

Sun and Moon: Part Two

It was several moons after the bear attack when the humans were spotted again.

This time, it was the long-haired human from before, as well as two new humans, that came running into a slightly protected valley in the hills of the tundra. They arrived in the morning, their sled dogs running over the crackly, almost gone remnants of the last snow, spring almost in full swing.

Smoke Cloud had been on a scouting mission when Wowasi came swooping back, letting out a squawk and ruffling the scout’s ears before the sleek raven flew back the way she’d come, Smoke Cloud bounding along below.

She stopped at the ridge Wowasi had landed on, looking down the slope, seeing the humans pulling things off of their sleds, their dogs milling around where they were tied to them.

Smoke Cloud noticed one of them, the dog in front, staring directly at her, her fur bristling uncomfortably at that, turning and bounding back down the ridge, and towards the towering conifers of the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atka noticed the raven that swooped over head twice, watching it the second time it showed up, watching it land on the ridge, just as a wolf showed up, Atka watching it.

He was young enough, and hadn’t been far enough from the sledding farm he grew up on to have never seen a wolf other than Kenai, the old wolf that the farmers owned.

Kenai had told them about his time in the wild when he was younger, the hungry times that his pack had faced, until his mother finally brought he and his siblings to the farm so they’d be taken care of. He’d been taken by the farmers, his siblings being given to other humans.

Atka just watched the wolf, who seemed to notice him watching, turning and disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared.

Atka hadn’t realized his tail had raised up until he felt a nudge from his side, turning to look at Syka.

“What’s with you?”, she asked, tilting her head slightly, looking unamused.

“You didn’t see the wolf on the ridge?”, he asked.

“No.”, Syka said, lifting a paw to scratch her ear. “Sure you weren’t seeing things?”

“I’m sure, Syka.”, Atka snapped, looking back at the ridge so he didn’t have to deal with the bossy female anymore.

“A wolf? Do you think it’ll attack?”

Atka turned slightly, recognizing the voice as Takaani, turning to the younger Husky.

“I doubt it. There’s a lot of us, not to mention the humans. We’ll be alright, Takaani.”, he said, wagging his tail reassuringly.

“Not if they decided to attack with their whole pack.”, Syka said. “You heard what Dinari said. They’re a big pack.”

“Dinari doesn’t know what he’s talking about. They only saw two of the wolves, and they said from what they’re understood, Peggy doesn’t even know how many of them there are. Now stop scaring the others.”, Atka snapped.

Syka just dipped her head slightly, before she settled down in the sparse snow below her. Atka knew she would have slunk off if she could, but they hadn’t been detached from the sled yet.

Atka just stood at the front of the group, but glanced back every now and then to check on the rest of the team, most of whom had settled down in the snow. The only one actually watching him was Kaskae, but Atka ignored the large black husky’s glare.

He just turned back to look at the ridge where the wolf had been and then disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abaise stood on the announcement rock in camp, waiting for everyone to gather, seeing Cracking Ice creeping as close as she could to the rock.

It was only a few moments later when Abaise stepped forward slightly to speak.

“Smoke Cloud has discovered that the long-haired human that Vixen and Swift Snow encountered has returned.”, she said. “She has come with a couple other humans and a team of sled dogs. They have set up camp in the tundra.”

Abaise heard worried murmurs, mostly from the older wolves, or those with pups. Cracking Ice and several of the other young wolves looked like they were about to burst form excitement.

“I want everyone to steer clear of them when you can.”, Abaise said, casting a glance at her. “They are not threats, but we don’t want to provoke the other humans or the dogs in anyway.”, she said. “We will leave them to their business and hope they leave us to ours.”

“What if they’ve come to watch us?”, Sycamore Branch piped up, looking embarrassed as everyone turned to look at him. “There were humans that watched our old pack.”, he said, glancing at his sister Dusk Sky, who was sitting beside him. “They put these collars on a couple of our wolves, but other than that, they mostly left us alone. We’d see them watching our hunting parties or scouts, but they just seemed to want to watch.”

“Sycamore’s right.”, Dusk Sky said. “They were actually very nice. They took one of our pups that was dying from a disease our herbalist didn’t know how to treat, and brought him back healed.”, she said.

“I understand.”, Abaise said. “But we don’t know how the other humans will react, or how their dogs will.”

“At least with their dogs we can talk to them.”, Kotsim said.

“True.”, Abaise said. “But still, my point stands. Do not interact with them if you can help it.”, she said, looking over her pack, seeming most of them nodding in agreement, only a few of the younger wolves taking a few moments before they nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cracking Ice had meant to listen to her mother’s rules, she had.

But her mother hadn’t exactly told them what to do if they found themselves confronted by one of the sled dogs in the tundra on the way back home from a scouting mission.

“So, you’re one of the wolves we’re here to research.”, the large dog said from his spot on a small rock, blocking the game path into the forest.

Cracking Ice eyed him, bristling slightly. “And what if I am?”, she said, her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Relax.”, the dog said with a chuckle. “The name’s Atka. I’m the sled team leader.”, he said.

“Cracking Ice.”, she said, eyeing him.

“Mm, that’s a fitting name.”, Atka said, eyeing her. “You’re much different than any other wolf I’ve ever seen.”

“And just how many have you seen?”, she asked, her tail flicking slightly.

Atka started to say something, before he laughed slightly. “One.”, he said.

Cracking Ice raised an eyebrow slightly, before she titled her head. “Mm, then you must be such a great judge on what wolves look like.”, she said, earning a slight grin from the large dog.

“Well, I still think the name fits.”, he said, sitting down in the tiny remnants of snow left from spring finally being upon them.

“What did you mean, research?”, Cracking Ice asked, tilting her head slightly. “You said you’re here to research us.”

Atka nodded slightly. “I’m relatively new to all this, but my mother used to run in a research sled team.”, he said. “Basically, the humans set up camp, watch a wolf pack for awhile. Might catch a few and put radio collars on them, which are harmless.”, he said.

“Why?”, she asked.

Atka shrugged slightly. “Nothing bad, that’s all I know. They don’t exactly sit down and let the dogs in on what happens.”, he said. “It’s a struggle most of the time to even understand them. A lot of figuring out what the hell their noises mean.”

“I don’t envy you.”, she said. “For figuring out their speech and not being able to, you know. Go where you please, do what you please.”

He just laughed. “What do you think I’m doing now?”, he asked, straightening slightly.

“And they just let you out? Where’s the rest of your team?”, Cracking Ice asked.

“Well, no.”, Atka said. “I slip out of my tether. I like to roam some nights.”, he said.

Cracking Ice just hummed, flicking her tail, looking amused. “Well, definitely sounds like you’ve got a wild side.”, she said.

“Now I know you’re just teasing me.”, Atka said, grinning at her slightly.

Cracking Ice went to speak, but went quiet at a slightly distant howl. She glanced over his shoulder, and sighed. “I, uh, I have to go. That was my mother.”, she said.

Atka glanced back. “Your mother?”

Cracking Ice nodded slightly. “Abaise. She’s the pack leader. If I don’t get back on time she won’t be happy.”, she said.

“Sun, or Moon?”, Atka asked.

“S- sorry?”, Cracking Ice said, tilting her head.

“The humans call your leaders Sun and Moon. One’s a silver wolf and one’s a golden color.”, he said.

“Oh, then Sun. My father Kotsim must be who they call Moon.”, she said, just as there was another short howl. “I really have to go.”, she said, and went to brush by him.

“Wait.”, Atka said, stepping in her way, their muzzled close to each other when she glanced at him. “When can I see you again?”, he asked.

Cracking Ice went to tell him that it probably wouldn’t be ever, but found herself stopping before she said anything.

“I- I’m a scout for the pack.”, she found herself saying instead. “I travel up through here every couple of days. The next time I’ll be through here at night will be on the half moon.”

Atka nodded slightly. “Three days. I think I can handle that.”, he said, smiling. “I look forward to it.”, he said, before he trotted off, leaving Cracking Ice watching him go, before she turned and bounded off into the forest when she heard an angry howl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abaise knew something was up with Cracking Ice.

She’d noticed it after her daughter’s first scouting mission after Smoke Cloud had discovered that the humans were back. She’d tried to ask Cracking Ice what the matter was, but she had just assured her mother nothing was wrong.

Abaise knew better though, but she figured that Cracking Ice was just on edge, like many of the wolves were.

She’d voiced her concerns to Kotsim, but her mate didn’t have much to offer the conversation that Abaise hadn’t already thought of.

She laid curled up with Kotsim in the thin winter sunshine, the two of them curled up to try and converse more heat.

They’d moved to the mountains, into the sparse forest that covered the foothills. It wasn’t as protective as the coniferous forest, but prey was more plentiful, and easier to catch.

Even so, they’d been struggling. Abaise had finally had to resort to having the hunting party made of her pups do most of the hunting, as they were more experienced and better at catching prey.

“Abaise, get out of your head.”, she heard Kotsim yip, as her mate nudged her cheek.

She shook her head slightly, and turned to look at him. “Sorry.”, she said softly. “Just... worrying.”

Kotsim chuckled slightly. “Tell me something I don’t know.”, he said, grinning at the soft growl Abaise gave him. “We’ll be alright. We’ve had rough winters before, and we always pull through.”

“Yes, but never with this big of a pack.”, she said, her tail thumping worriedly. “We’ve grown so much even since last winter.”

“And that just means more helping paws.”, Kotsim said, licking her nose slightly. “It’ll be ok.”

Abaise just huffed slightly, laying her head down on his side, closing her eyes.

She hoped he was right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cracking Ice had not meant to stay out this late.

She’d been on a scouting mission to the glacier, hoping to find some kind of food, with no luck. She’d stayed out there far too long, desperately hoping to find something to supplement the tiny prey pile in camp.

Now, she was stuck in the middle of the tundra with the starting of a blizzard falling around her.

She could tell by looking to the west, not even able to see the mountains that she knew separated the glacier from the tundra.

She was starting to panic. She’d probably freeze out her by herself, as the sun was setting, she could tell by the fact that the light was slowly fading.

Cracking Ice just stopped, standing still for a bit, to get her mind in order. She had to come up with a plan, not pace back and forth. All that would accomplish would be to make her lose her bearings.

“Cracking Ice!”

The light gray wolf whirled at a bark behind her, both relieved and confused to see Atka bounding up to her.

Over the past few weeks, the two had grown close, Atka sneaking out to visit whenever she had a scouting mission in the north. But she had no idea what he was doing out in this weather.

“Atka, you shouldn’t be out here.”, she barked, bristling slightly. “This is just the beginnings of a blizzard.”

“I know.”, he said. “I’ve been waiting for you, and when I hadn’t seen you before the blizzard started coming over the mountains, I knew you’d be in trouble.”, he said. “Come on, I found a cave over this way. We should be able to stay warm in it.”, he said, turning and bounding off.

Cracking Ice wanted to be annoyed that he’d risked his own safety for her, but really it just made her heart melt a bit, before she bounding after the large husky.

Sure enough, not far from where she’d been standing was a small hill, a crack in the side of the rock, Atka disappearing into it.

Cracking Ice followed, squeezing inside, the opening a bit of a tight squeeze, but it opened up after. While there was a hole at the top, causing some cold wind and snow to blow through the small cave, it was nothing like the cold outside.

Atka had already settled down against the back wall. “Come on, it’ll be best if we curl up to conserve body heat.”, he said.

“Sure, that’s the only reason.”, Cracking Ice said, smiling slightly, her tail waving, as she walked over, easily tucking herself into a ball against Atka’s belly, laying her head on his flank, feeling him chuckle.

“Hey, if that’s what it’ll take.”, he teased, tucking himself around her as well, his head resting on her flank too.

Cracking Ice just relaxed, snuggling into him slightly. This wasn’t the first time they’d curled up together, but she knew that there wouldn’t be any chance to get Atka’s scent off of her after curling up to weather a blizzard together.

Her mother would know why Cracking I’ve had been so distant, why she took so much time on scouting missions now.

On one paw, it might make it easier, but Cracking Ice knew better. Her mother would be pissed that she’d disobeyed her order to not interact with the humans or their dogs, though, to be fair, it hadn’t been her fault. Atka had found her, not the other way around.

“You ever think about what you would want to do?”, Atka asked softly. “If your mother hadn’t marked you as her heir?”

Cracking Ice hummed softly at the question. “I’d probably just continue to be a scout. I like traveling around, seeing things most of my pack never would.”, she said.

“What about... father?”, he asked quietly.

She raised her head to look at him, meeting his ice blue eyes.

“What, like... go with you?”, she asked, tilting her head slightly.

“No, no.”, Atka said. “I wouldn’t even suggest that. Sledding’s alright, but only when you were raised in it. Besides, pure wolves don’t usually pull.”, he said, frowning slightly. “They’re usually used for breeding. The ranch I grew up on, they had an old wolf, Kenai. His mother left him there when he was a pup to stop him from starving.”, he said. “But he always talked about missing the wild.”

“Then what do you mean?”, Cracking Ice asked, still watching him.

“I mean, would you stay with your pack, or move? Just roam, see the sights farther even than here.”, he said.

“I’d probably stay with my pack. I like to wander, but our valley here is more than enough space for me to do so.”, she said. “And I’d miss my family. My siblings and my nieces and nephews.”, she said.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”, Atka said, laying his head back down on her flank.

“What about you? What would you do?”, Cracking Ice asked.

“If I wasn’t a sled dog?”, he asked, humming slightly when she nodded, before he glanced away, his ears pulled back slightly in a bit of embarrassment.

“Stay here. With you.”, he said. “Be wild. Not have to deal with Kaskae or any of the other dogs that aren’t my biggest fans. Be able to go where I went whenever I want, without having to slip out of a lead.”, he said.

Cracking Ice had frozen at his addition of ‘with you’, looking at him, before she laid her head down on his flank. “You could you know.”, she said softly. “My mother may not want us to interact with the humans or any of your team, but there’s not much she could do if you wanted to join.”, she said.

Atka looked at her, his tail tapping slightly. “And if she did? If she didn’t allow me into the pack? What would you do then?”, he asked.

Cracking Ice started to answer, to say she’d respect her mother’s wishes, wait until she was leader to bring Atka in, but that wasn’t what left her mouth.

“I’d follow you.”, she said. “We could start our own pack, if she refused to let you join.”

Atka practically beamed at that, sitting up to lean over and start licking her face, Cracking Ice yipping in surprise at that and the cold across her belly his movement caused.

“Alright, alright, do that when it’s warmer.”, she said with a laugh, pushing him back down with a paw, and curling up with him again.

Atka just laughed. “Sorry, just... I’m really happy to hear you say that.”, he said.

“It’s the truth.”, Cracking Ice said softly. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it’s the truth.”

The two just curled back up together, talking quietly, plans for if Atka joined the pack, if they had to start a new pack, things Cracking Ice wanted to change as leader.

And as the blizzard raged outside, the two young canids found themselves falling more in love than they thought they could with someone so different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

((Alright, part two! Posting this as is, cause I already knew when I started this that I would need more than just two parts (which was my plan). I will probably take parts one and two and put them onto AO3 tonight, so I’ll share the link here later! But for now, enjoy this second part, and the buildup for quite a lot of conflict and lore in the next part!))

[dem0nsiget-wolvden]

Cracking Ice had picked the perfect day to go to the tundra for the last time.

She’d been slowing down considerably the last few weeks, and she knew her time was coming to an end, but she needed to go back to the place she’d first met Atka at least once more.

When she walked out of the taiga forest onto the tundra, she smiled softly at the sight of small flowers scattered across the grassy hills.

She walked the familiar path to where, long ago, Atka had been brought by the humans researching them.

She wondered where those humans were now, and the rest of Atka’s sled team. She wondered how many of them were still alive.

She found a spot on the hill overlooking what had once been the humans camp, and laid down in the middle of a patch of purple and pink flowers, sighing as she laid down.

The wind was still a bit chilly, but held the promise of warmth soon to come. She wouldn’t feel it, she was quite sure of that, but she’d already seen the affects of spring. Food was now easy to find, the hunting parties having already filled everyone’s bellies by the time she’d left in the late morning.

Cracking Ice closed her eyes, leaning her head up into the warm sun. She’d been a bit worried that she wouldn’t be able to see spring fall across the land again, glad to have one last time to see the flowers and greenery coming back.

She sat there for awhile, not even sure how much time went by, before she heard pawsteps, looking over to see Feverfew walking towards her, the young herbalist’s tail wagging when she turned to her.

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You’ve been gone for a bit.”, Feverfew said, coming and sitting next to her aunt. “But Mother said you’d probably just be enjoying the sun somewhere.”

Cracking Ice hummed softly. Moonstone always seemed to be able to read her mind, her younger sister having always been the sibling she was closest with, but especially after their older siblings had all passed.

“I just wanted to come here once more.”, Cracking Ice said, looking down into the hollow below the hill, where a faint circle of stones was still visible, most of them scattered a bit, but still in a vague shape.

Feverfew glanced down, tilting her head slightly. “What is this place?”, she asked. She knew the pack had never lived here in the tundra, but it must mean something special.

“Years ago, when my mother was still leader, a couple of humans came to study the land and us.”, Cracking Ice said. “They came on sleds, pulled by dogs.”, she said. “Atka was the leader of the sled team. This is where he first arrived here. I didn’t meet him here, but this is the place I remember the most.”, she said.

Feverfew hummed softly. “It’s a beautiful spot.”

Cracking Ice just nodded slightly, before she laid her head on her paws, feeling a bit fatigued. It definitely had been a long trek out here. Maybe she should have come earlier, but she doubted the flowers would have been out any sooner.

The two she-wolves sat in silence for awhile, Feverfew finally settling down to lay beside Cracking Ice, who kept her head on her paws, looking out across the tundra.

As the sky started to darken, Cracking Ice finally sighed, and started to stand up, taking a bit for her old bones to cooperate. Feverfew stood by to help if need be, but knew better than to intervene if Cracking Ice didn’t ask.

“We should head back to camp.”, Cracking Ice said, before she turned to start the long walk back to camp, but at least she would have a companion.

[dem0nsiget-wolvden]

Feverfew heard it first near their grasslands camp, when she’d been checking to make sure she’d cleared out the last of her stock there.

A whimpering, that sounded like a puppy.

Before, she might had just taken note of it and finished her task before investigating, but that was before she’d had Bearberry. Now, she had motherly instincts she’d never had before.

She immediately abandoned her checking of her old den, bounding out into the empty camp, the silence eerie. She’d grown up in this camp, and it was still odd to see it empty.

But she pushed that out of her brain, focusing on trying to sniff for the puppy she’d heard. But it had rained not long before, meaning any scents were dampened and washed away, no trails to follow, at least none she could smell.

She heard the whining again, but couldn’t pinpoint the sound’s source. She whined slightly, not liking that a puppy could be injured or sick and she couldn’t find them.

“Hello? It’s alright, I won’t hurt you! I’m a healer, I can help you!”, she called, wagging her tail in case the puppy could see her.

She went quiet after that to listen, but heard nothing else.

Feverfew started walking around the camp border, sniffing and barking to try and find the puppy, but no scents came to her, and no one answered her calls.

She paced around and around the camp for a good hour, finally whining as she realized she’d have to give up. If she didn’t head back soon, the pack would be worried, especially Sand Viper, and she didn’t want to do that to her mate.

“If you are here, little one, please try and stay warm. I’ll be back tomorrow.”, she called, hoping the puppy had just fallen asleep.

She turned and started walking back towards the mountains, glancing back over her shoulder once more to look for movement, but saw none, and turned and kept heading home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Feverfew got back to camp, she went straight to Cracking Ice, the old she-wolf laid out in the thin sunlight in front of her den. She’d been worrying Feverfew ever since Atka had passed, starting to look thin and unkempt, but she’d kept her jaws shut and not questioned her. Cracking Ice was allowed to grieve.

“Is something wrong, Feverfew?”, Cracking Ice asked when the young herbalist walked up, immediately making the younger she-wolf’s ears pin back slightly in stress.

“I- I thought I heard a lost puppy on my way back here from our old camp, calling out to me. But I couldn’t find it.”, she said.

The look that crossed Cracking Ice’s face confused her. Her eyes darkened, like she knew some dark secret.

“Come inside.”, the old leader said, standing up and leading Feverfew into her den. It was dirty and musty smelling, the bedding in the shallow scoop in the floor obviously unchanged. Feverfew suspected it was from the day Atka had died.

“What’s going on?”, she asked, sitting down a little ways inside, as Cracking Ice laid down.

“There have been odd goings on lately.”, she said. “I’ve met many wolves from neighboring packs who are missing wolves, and…. odd animals. Like here, but different.”, she said.

“Are they from the Dreamlands?”, Feverfew asked. While most wolves weren’t supposed to know of them, Cracking Ice had confided in her after so many of their wolves that joined were part Dreamlands that she suspected that their territory had a spot where the separation between the two worlds was thin.

“No, not Dreamlands. They were regular deer, and squirrels, and badgers, but nothing I’ve ever seen. Like they came from elsewhere.”, Cracking Ice said, a frown on her face. “I don’t know what it means, but I also am not putting too much thought to it. That will be Stormy Skies’s duty.”

Stormy Skies, the young he-wolf Feverfew knew Cracking Ice had chosen as her replacement. She hadn’t told anyone but Feverfew and her father, Chaparral, who would still be herbalist if he hadn’t retired early.

“But aren’t you curious?”, Feverfew asked.

“I’m too old for curiosity. I’m concerned. I don’t like the news of wolves disappearing. It makes me uneasy. There’s a reason no one but those that must leave are going outside of camp. If it wasn’t for the fact that we only have one who’s old enough to go, I’d make Sidewinder and Desert Runner bring an younger wolf with them to make sure they weren’t alone.”, Cracking Ice said.

Feverfew had never met her grandmother, Abaise, but she’d heard enough that Cracking Ice definitely seemed to be doing what she thought her mother would. Sometimes Feverfew forgot they were related.

“You think I’m being too cautious.”, Cracking Ice said. “I can tell from the look on your face.”

“No, no.”, Feverfew said, shaking her head. “I just… is that what you think is best? Or what you think is expected?”

“It’s what I think is best.”, Cracking Ice said, an edge to her voice. “I didn’t bring you in here to question my decisions. You’re barely an adult.”, she said.

“Not barely.”, Feverfew said, feeling a bit miffed.

“Having pups does not make you an adult. Growing up and wising up does.”, Cracking Ice said. “Now leave me. I’d like to get some rest.”

Feverfew nodded, and turned and exited the den, her tail tucked between her legs slightly. She’d obviously pissed her off.

But what had Cracking Ice meant by wolves disappearing? Strange animals? Did that have something to do with the puppy she’d thought she’d heard?

Feverfew just shook her head, deciding to put it out of mind until the next day when she could go check the camp again for the puppy. She just headed for her den to take inventory of what herbs she had again, and hopefully occupy herself enough to get her mind off that pup’s whine.