Hey there! My name’s Tree and I like wolves, so I made a side-blog for my WolfQuest saves!
I’m not playing on Ironwolf (yet), but I will be advancing every year/dying of old age; and the goal is to play through as many generations as possible.
Current Player Wolf: Sooty Pelt of Slough Creek’s Phoenix Ash Pack
Current Pack Size: 6 (3 adult, 3 pup)
(6/12 Update) I’ve done some tag reworking! Sooty’s pack will now be under the “Phoenix Ash Pack” Tag, and all wolves will be tagged in photo posts they feature in (even if they are not the focus, if they appear in frame they are tagged)
I really hope he’ll stick around her entire life. I believe eight is when they can start randomly dying in their sleep, but they can get lucky, but I have mate permadeath on and I don’t think I will be that lucky
Something I love about Pike is she is a very doting big sister. The pack woke up from a sleep, all three of the pups were hungry, and she immediately herds Sprout over to the rest (he slept a little further away) and drops some food for all three of them.
All in the time it took Sooty to wake up, stand, and throw up some meat for Seed and Root, who slept next to her.
TW: mention of animal death, specifically wolf pups (who are considered sentient for the sake of this one-shot)
I wanted to write this out if Pike made it through the year, so here’s some mild Pike angst with a dose of adorable ghost puppies.
Spirits were something that were very odd to Pike. Her parents believed in them, certainly, but she never saw any reason to believe herself. Bass and Minnow were dead, after all; you couldn't change that with a sweet story about guardians. Pike had seen them die with her own eyes, both to the hungry jaws of coyotes. She'd watched her parents darting around the den they'd once called home, now too small for shelter, as Minnow's throat was found by the coyotes' teeth. A few short months later, Bass had followed, barely the size of the coyotes and dragged down when she'd fled the grass in terror.
Once, Pike would have hoped Minnow and Bass would both match her in size, that her stint as the biggest pup in the litter was short-lived. Now, she would always be older, bigger, stronger than they would ever be. She didn't know what to think of that; she'd been the youngest, even if she was the largest of the three. And she'd managed to stay alive, through coyotes, wolves, cougars, and a bear, even when her older sisters hadn't.
The slushy remaining snow froze her paws as she trotted through her parents' territory— her mother insisted they slow their usual run after her belly started to round with next spring's pups, and her father agreed without hesitation. Pike knew he was thankful for the moment of not running at breakneck speed. Sooty Pelt was not one to take life slow; there was always something to do, something to hunt or mark or fight off. Sometimes, she wondered how Bark Fur had agreed to be her mate at all.
"We'll rest here," Sooty announced as they reached a patch of trees, their thick-needled branches still thick with snow, lifting her tail. "I'm tired." Bark wasted no time in curling into a tiny ball, and Sooty settled beside her mate gingerly. It was strange for Pike to see her usually bold mother moving so carefully, so cautiously.
Pike sat back on her haunches, but didn't lie down yet. Her paws were still humming with energy from her winter of hunting and exploring her parents' massive territory. She lifted her nose, half-hoping there was rabbit-scent for her to chase. She wasn't particularly hungry, but it would be a good excuse to go do something.
A flicker of shadow made Pike tilt her head, eyes darting out onto the meadow of dead grass. Far in the distance, the creek that marked the southern boundary of the territory glittered, but that wasn't what had caught her eye. There was a shape out in the meadow— no, two. Two small, clumsy shapes. One much smaller than the other.
Pike glanced at her parents, ears flattening uncertainly. Should she wake them? This didn't seem like a threat, but if it turned out that way, her mother would have some very serious words for her.
A soft yip made her eyes dart back out to the shapes. Now that she was looking, the shadows seemed to coalesce into…
Pike's heart skipped a beat. Her ears flattened further, but even as her chest tightened, she found herself standing and walking towards the shapes. "Bass? Min?" She whispered, flicking an ear back to check if she'd woken her parents.
Sooty and Bark slept on, completely unaware.
Minnow darted forward, tumbling playfully into Pike's forelegs. "Hi!" She squealed, blue eyes shining with excitement. "I missed you!"
They'd been close to the same size, once. Min was always smaller, but now she seemed miniscule beside Pike. Even Bass, who'd been closer to Pike's size, didn't even reach her shoulder in height anymore. Both of them sparkled in the moonlight, in a way even Minnow's silvery pelt never had before.
Settling into a crouch, Pike looked at both her sisters. "This… this isn't possible. You're gone." She looked down at the ground between her forepaws. "You have been for a long time."
Bass scoffed, tossing her russet head. "Papa and Momma told you the stories, same as us. We're here to protect you."
"But you're so small," Pike whined. "You can't protect me."
Minnow reared up, placing her tiny, silver-gray paws on Pike's muzzle. "We tell you what we know, so you can stay alive!"
Thinking back through the half year she'd spent alone, Pike realized she remembered times she had known things she never should have. Where to dodge to avoid the bear's jaws, how to stay clear of other wolves during territorial disputes. "But you never saw a bear, or other wolves."
"I saw them once!" Minnow yelped. "From the den!"
Pike's heart lurched. Another reminder how young Minnow was when she died. "But still. How do you protect me from things you never even saw?"
Bass shrugged, wagging her tail gently. "We know how teeth work."
It took Pike a moment to realize she was shaking with emotion, a pained howl catching in her throat. "Why haven't I seen you before? Why did you leave me alone?" Her voice cracked with grief.
Minnow backed off her sister's muzzle, suddenly serious. "We didn't want to," she said solemnly, more seriously than Pike would have thought possible for a pup that never properly saw summer. "We can help you, but we can only see you this once."
"Once?" Pike whined. "It's not enough." A lifetime would never be enough time for her to spend with her sisters, after everything she'd been through, everything they'd missed.
"I know," Bass murmured, sitting back on her haunches. Pike felt the edges of a quiet wisdom she'd missed since Bass died.
"But we'll always look out for you!" Minnow chirped, suddenly chipper again. "You, and Momma, and Papa, and the new little puppies too!"
Another stab to Pike's heart. An elk's hoof would have been less painful than this. "You… know about them?" Are you angry? Momma and Papa are replacing you. Are you mad at me? I couldn't protect you, and now you have to watch us all go on without you.
Minnow nodded eagerly. "We can feel them wriggling around in Momma's belly! There's one that's reeeeaaalllly little, just like me."
Pike whined at the thought. Minnow had always been the smallest, the slowest, the weakest. Even when they'd outgrown the den, she was never able to playfight as well as Bass and Pike could. "Then they're going to…"
"No!" Minnow shrieked, the sound echoing off the northeastern hills. Pike's ears flattened, and she looked over her shoulder at her parents, but neither stirred. "You'll keep her alive, I know you will!"
Shaking her head in amusement, Bass wagged her tail. "We know you'll do your best, Pike." Looking at their parents, her lips stretched in a relaxed grin. "They will too. And we're here to welcome any pups who won't make it."
As time went on, Pike found her chest loosening, her own lips matching Bass' grin. "I missed you both."
"We missed you too!" Minnow chirped.
Bass stood slowly, stretching her stubby legs with a yawn. "We need to go. And you need some sleep. Nothing better for watching pups than a well-rested mind." She eyed Minnow as she spoke.
Pike sat up, heart lurching. "Where are you going?"
Minnow reared up, tilting her head to the moon. The light made her fur sparkle like it was set with stars. "Up there!" She howled. "To the moon!"
"Home," Bass said simply. "I don't think you'll see us again, but you'll feel us. We'll watch out for you."
"We'll see you again one day!" Minnow squealed. "When you die!"
"Minnow!"
"What?" The little silver pup looked at Bass in confusion.
Pike laughed, her tail thumping against the ground. "It's okay, Bass. Min, I… don't know how long I have with Momma and Papa, but… if you're waiting for me after, I'm glad."
The two little pups wagged their tails, and Minnow walked forward to headbutt Pike's leg gently. Then the two of them scampered off into the grasses, and they were gone.
Taking a deep breath, Pike stood fully, stretched her own stiff limbs, and trotted back to her parents to settle down for rest.
It looks like our silver pup (Seed) is once again the runt, so hopefully she makes it! Root and Sprout definitely take after Bark at least somewhat more.
Congrats on finishing the litter and Pike surviving!! :D <33 I don't have individual name suggestions for the new pups but a while back I made a huge list of cool name options specifically for WQ wolves so I figured I could link that in case you'd like to check it out. :3 It has several categories (including one for fish if you wanna keep that theming!) and is based on things that would actually be found in Yellowstone! c:
WOW
I have some names in mind at this point, but I will definitely keep this list in the back of my mind for reference! Thank you for sharing!!!!
I hope your WolfQuest pups are healthy and your years go smoothly (or as smoothly as the game allows 😅)
I just realized that, going by numbers, Pike is the youngest pup in the litter. And now she’s lost both her big sisters (well. Age-wise. She was always physically larger)
Also want to add a little worldbuilding tidbit that I have for my wolves. It probably won’t come up often but I wanted to mention it.
Wolves believe that if a pup dies, that pup becomes a sort of guardian spirit for the rest of the pups, making sure they are fed and safe. The more pups that die, the more guardian spirits there are for the remaining pups.
Realistically, it’s probably just that less pups are more likely to survive. But most wolves tell this story anyway, possibly for comfort knowing their pups are still with them.
And if Pike sees any small, familiar shadows that flicker out of sight the second she notices them? Well, it’s just a story, isn’t it…?
So I just chased off some stranger wolves. No one died, and I cannot stress this enough. Sooty at least didnt kill anyone, and I’m pretty sure (like 99% sure) Bark didnt either.
So why, when I am finishing chasing off those other wolves, do I find this next to my elk carcass.
No scent either, so no idea who the fuck this was. RIP Random Radio Collar Wolf, you actually look quite pretty for a corpse (silly)
