Annie & Ireshk

Annie wasn't sure where her mate had gone, and she fretted constantly over it. Once more, her frame had grown lean and gaunt. Her son was in worse shape; his ribs and spine shown easily under his tattered fur.

Together, mother and son looked for any food they could find.

Nachi

Nachi had caught the duo's scent a ways back, and knew of them. She had stalked them from time to time, always downwind and out of sight. Never for long; just enough to learn that they wondered about and didn't seem to have a pack or friends. Now she crept near, but not near enough for the two to hear her. She was downwind as well, and hidden in thick foliage.

She turned to make sure Phelan had followed, and spoke to him in a whispered voice, "Drakar... we will be getting you a new friend. But in order to do that, we first have to play a little game. There is a young wolf, a bit younger than you, a little ways in head of us, near the shore. He has been captured by a sinister she-wolf... she is evil!" Nachi hissed out the word, wrinkling her muzzle in a quiet snarl to emphasize her disgust, "We will trick her and save the youngster she has stolen, alright? You pretend to be my son, ok? And we will approach them... she is evil, remember, and she'll pretend to be the young one's mother. And he will act like she is her son... for she has tricked him so well. Do you understand?" Nachi knew she was saying a lot, but it was neccessary.

"I will talk with the evil she-wolf, and you talk with the youngster. Lead him away, out of our sight, further down the lake shore. Take him beyond the reach of words, Drakar. Keep him entertained while I take care of the evil one... got it?" She looked hard at Drakar, though gave him no chance to speak. With the swift grace of a cat, she stepped from cover and headed towards Annie.

"Oh, pardon me! I didn't realize anyone was here... is that your little one?" Nachi asked, feigning ignornance and a happy attitude.

Drakar

Phelan followed after Nachi, his mind rotating from Laporta to food, and back again. He desperately wanted to see his mother and siblings again, but thought it best to follow Nachi's orders, for in his eyes, she had gone out of her way to help him.

Nodding feebly at what she said, Phelan struggled to understand this task. Ready or not, he followed after the wofless as she emerged from the foliage. Looking sheepishly to Annie, Phelan approached Ireshk at an akward gait. He was shocked to see how thin the adolescent was, and this added to his beleif that Annie must indeed be evil. Of course, he failed to notice that Annie too was thin.

"Hi, I'm... Drakar." Phelan said, almost saying his real name instead. "Um... you wanna go... play?" He asked, trying to sound excited, although he was so timid and still shocked by Laporta's death, that his words were fumbled.

Annie & Ireshk

Annie was hesitant at first, but so far, those she met tended to be nice and sincere. Her guard dropped. Offering a friendly smile to Drakar, she turned to Nachi, "Yes, his name is Ireshk. I'm Annie." She let her tail sway in a light manner.

Ireshk grinned ear to ear, for he never really had anyone to play with. "Yeah, sure!"

Annie glanced down to her son, "Don't go too far, Ireshk."

Nachi

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Annie. I'm Nachi. That's my son, Drakar." She watched as Phelan headed away and smirked inwardly; he was doing perfectly. Her attention turned to Annie again as she waited for Ireshk to join with Phelan. "Is he your only son, then? And, pardon me for asking, but do you have any pack around here? Any friends?"

Drakar

Maybe I'll be doing something right for once... Drakar thought, feeling a ray of happiness come over him, helping to damper the overwhelming sadness and fear he felt. Sure that he was doing the right thing for Ireshk, Drakar wagged his tail encouragingly, "Lets go over here then! I... er, saw something neat..."

Lying wasn't one of his specialties, Drakar soon learned. But that didn't matter too much at the moment. He bounded enthusiastically from the adult wolves and headed along the shore. Pretending he had picked up a scent on the ground, the adolescent suddenly bolted to the side, around a bend and out of sight. "Come on, I smell something!"

Annie & Ireshk

Ireshk hesitated a moment, then bounded after Drakar, "What was it? What'd ya see?" Like a typical youngster, his mother's previous words faded away and he blissfully followed his new friend around the bend.

Annie glanced back, "Ireshk, not too far, honey!" But her words, of course, were lost on deaf ears. With a light laugh, she looked to Nachi, "There's no reasoning with them, huh?" Listening to Nachi's words, Annie looked down, her eyes troubled, "I had others... but they, my mate... I don't know where they are. I have two sister and a brother, mother and father, but I don't know where any of them are."

Drakar

"It's right over here!" He yipped enthusiastically, his spirits soaring as he thought of how he was helping to save this new friend of his. Drakar ran faster now, eager to please Nachi and get Ireshk away from the dangerous Annie. Along the way, he looked out for anything that was remotely interesting.

Then he found it. A bright red caught his eye and he slowed down, staring at very strange looking object at the edge of the lake shore, lapped by little waves of water. Although Drakar didn't know it, this was a child's bucket, shaped neatly to make sand castles. "Erm... that's what..." Drakar replied, uncertainly. Had it been Sweetclover or Atticus, they would have gone straight up to the strange object. But little Phelan was too timid. He looked to Ireshk as his confidence began to crumble, "Um... you know what it is?"

Nachi

After the two were out of sight, Nachi raised her head up, eyes glistening as she stared at Annie, "I'm sorry to hear that." Her words were simple and almost hissing as they came out. "I'm sorry that you couldn't provide the right life for your little one, and that this day will be your last." No sooner had the words left her jaws then she sprung. Like a steel trap, her rough muzzle shot for Annie's neck, jaws snapping shut...

Annie & Ireshk

Annie tilted her head to the side slightly, her tail stiffening as she sensed something amiss with Nachi's attitude. A quite snarl passed through her throat at the wolf's words, "...what are you tal-" Then the trap was sprung. Never in her life had Annie fought another wolf, for she never had reason too. Now this she-devil was going for her throat, and for what reason? Annie couldn't fathom. Maybe if she had been in better shape, not so emaciated, she'd of have a better chance. Maybe if she had had experience in fighting, she might have evaded this simple manuever. But it wasn't so. Before she could command her startled, weakened body to spring back, Nachi had clutched her scrawny throat, "No!"

Ireshk stared at the strange object, "Lets see if it's edible..." Ah, there was old starvation talking, overriding fear. Stepping forward boldly, but only because his stomach bade him to, Ireshk reached a tentive muzzle forward. Twitching his long ears back, the wolf took a nip at the bucket. Tasteless and hard. With a snort, he leapt back. "Dang..."

Nachi

Nachi bit hard, as hard as she could. Snarling fiercly, she plunged forward, trying to drive the mother towards the water. Her eyes shut tight now while the snarls grew louder in her throat and she began to thrash her head about. Athara, I will make you proud!

Annie & Ireshk

Annie fought back, choaking out a snarl and writhing in protest against the deadly jaws. But all too soon, her waning strength was gone from depelted muscels, and the wolfess couldn't stop herself from being pushed into the water. By now, the gruesome fangs had dug deep into her flesh, closing down like a vice over her airway and making her struggle for each breath. Her eyes seemed to bulge and a pulse rang heavy and dull in her ears. Her vision swam.

Ireshk turned his head back, fancying he heard something. But no, it was probably nothing. In any case, this bucket was far too interesting! Having not been hurt by his previous nip at the plastic, Ireshk gained some courage and padded deliberately forward. With a quick, sharp movement, he swiped his paw forward and struck the toy on the edge. It topped over with a faint thud.

Annie faintly noticed something warm creeping into the fur of her neck. She hardly realized it was her own blood, snatching her life away as it dripped steadily from the deepening wound about her neck. As the precious crimson drops slipped away, so did her consiousness. Blackness began to descend into her eyes, into her thoughts, and into her being. Feelings surged into her dying mind, then fluttered away like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes dimmed and became glossy. And finally, after a last spurt of futile struggling, the mother crumpled under Nachi's relentless hold. Her body fell lax into the lapping waters, her fur quickly become sodden and heavy, adding weight to her emaciated frame. The lake churned dark and ugly with blood. She was dead.

Nachi

Once all life had fled from the wolf, Nachi shoved the body deeper into the water and released it. Then she meticulously cleansed her muzzle and pelt of blood before returning to the shore. She paused to look out at the body bobbing in the waves and smiled with pleasure. This had worked better than planned; now for the pup.

"Ireshk! Drakar! Hurry, we must leave!"

Drakar

His courage began to go up, and slowly, he crept towards the bucket. "What do you think it i..." He was cut off by Nachi's calls. "Oh, we've got to go!" Brimming with a smile, the adolescent dashed back down the beach.

When he came upon Nachi, he almost recoiled at the heavy stench of blood on the air. He could neither see nor smell any on the wolfess, but it was thick on the ground. "Nachi, are you ok?" Drakar questioned timidly as he looked over her sodden frame.