-Solitary Howl-

It's fine. =)

Cana

I picked at the rabbit and ate as much of it as I could possible stomach. "So whose territory do you suppose we are in right now?" I asked.

Bane stuck his nose upward and sniffed the air. "Not sure, nothing around here smells familiar."

I sighed again, and a small whine escaped my lips. I missed home.

Suddenly, the bushes a few feet from the two wolves rustled. The wind brought the scent of something unfamilar towards them. Bane stood and faced the bushes, fur bristling. I stood slightly behind him and growled half-heartedly. Honestly, I didn't care if we were about to be ambushed and killed. I'd probably be more happy dead than I was right now.

-----
Maybe that can be someone nice or someone not so nice. Doesn't matter. Cana and Bane just need some action. =)

**Would it be alright if Nuk joined you? She's not very nice though...being from Brushfire and all**

Nukpana

Nukpana had brought another scout with her. Fury had given orders to search around for the intruders. Nuk smiled. She smelled the other wolves. She hadn't exactly found the intruders from earlier, but she had caught a couple loners.

Poison and Nuk walked in a half crouch out in front of them.

"Hello there," Nukpana grinned maliciously. "Come to pay us a visit?" Poisone growled a little at the wolves.

"Now, now, poison, we wouldn't want to scare off our new freinds would we?" She laughed. Poison snorted a little but remained serious.

"Who are you?" one of the asked. They had gotton in front of the other one, making them upset. "Part of the Brushfire clan, no?"

"Ah! Figure that out all by yourself? Very good," Nuk replied. "Tell me your names, wolves? I'm curious about why you two are out alone...without any protection."

*Star is with Lhuna and Storm too.*

Spirit/Shadowstrider-

"So how do you find an evil ghost!?" Randyll tail was wagging, his hackles raised expecting a fight.

Spirit rolled his eyes and set off down the trail, talking over his shoulder. "Finding the ghost is the easy part Randyll. They're already dead, they don't belong in this world. Any living thing can sense that 'wrongness' on an instinctive level. Honing that sense allows you to avoid any nasty surprises, and how you track and kill them."

They had already been running for a couple hours and he stopped at a cliff edge. Below was a small cave and clearing. The ghost was near, Spirit could smell it now. The scent of faintly rotting meat. He turned back to Randyll. "Understand Randyll you only harry the ghost, you aren't experienced enough to fight a ghost head on."

"You know Spirit I am older then you." Randyll pointed out sarcastically, but his bravado faded under Spirit's withering stare.

"This is serious Randyll. If a ghost kills you he takes it all, lock stock and barrel. Not just your life but your soul is destroyed. No hope of a next life, or reincarnation. You cease to exist." Spirit knew it was harsh, but he drove the point home. He didn't want his friend to make a stupid mistake and end up dead.

Suddenly there was a rustle and a wolf stepped into the clearing. She was small even for a red wolf, with traditional coat and markings. She chose to appear as she would have in life. The only thing to mark her for what she was, was the otherworldly glow to her eyes. That and the fact that the grass withered beneath her paws.

She, it, pulled back her teeth in a snarl. Madness gleamed in it's eyes, not the tempered wisdom and humility of a kinder spirit. The ghost's eyes were fixed on the cave. Cursing, Spirit bolted down the hill. "Come on there are others in that cave." He shouted over his shoulder at Randyll.

Oceanleaf


"Oceanleaf, do you smell that?" went the voice of Dove from behind me, he had a troubled look on his face.

"Yeah... It smells like rotting meat" Raven echoed from behind him, his fur ruffled in the places he had been lying on.

"Its alright you both go back to sleep, I'll go check it out" I told them, wagging my tail to reassure them both. They nodded and curled back together in their usual places.

I walked out of the cave and there it was, a small, red wolf glaring at me with her teeth bared. I ran back into the cave, preparing myself for a fight.

**Well, after what feels like an absurdly long absence from YWS, I'm going to see if I can handle being in one storybook, at least until exams are over this term. Anyway, here are my two Yellow Hill wolves, and I might make a Brushfire one as well.**

Name: Ossal
Age: Eight
Pelt colour and appearance: http://snowwolfmystic.deviantart.com/ar ... n-28175190
Pack: Yellow Hill
Position: Shaman
Sex: Male
Strengths: Thinking and planning, Ossal is very wise, and when it comes to advice, no one is better to seek out. He does not fear death, as well, and this could be viewed as a kind of strength if he was forced to fight. He also has the heightened senses of a shaman, and a strong connection to the spirit world.
Weaknesses: His most obvious weakness is his age - Ossal is more or less on his last legs, and knows there is not much time left before he dies. Also, he is deeply superstitious.
Background: One of the eldest in the pack, Ossal served as an advisor to the former Alphas for their entire lives, having known them since birth. He is known for both his wisdom and his calm. Recently, some of the other wolves have come to view him as unfriendly, as he has become particularly sombre since the deaths of his friends. After the fight with the Brushfire pack upon arriving in the New Lands, Ossal became separated from the entire pack, and has been searching for the others since.

Name: Tier
Age: Three
Pelt colour and appearance: http://kaymanism.deviantart.com/art/Lone-Wolf-2063310
Pack: Yellow Hill
Position: Hunter
Sex: Male
Strengths: Tier has no real sense of personal safety, particularly when his pack is concerned. In terms of his strengths, he is very similar to Zodiak, both strong and fast.
Weaknesses: Tier is very hot-headed, and usually in favour of meeting the enemy head-on. After the fighting with the Black Tooth pack, however, he has learned to control himself somewhat.
Background: He is Ossal's nephew, and always admired Lhuna as an alpha when he was with the pack. However, he never got along with Zodiak, in part because of their rivalry for the position of head Hunter, and also because of other reasons he never voiced. When Lhuna ordered the pack away during the Brushfire fight, Tier obeyed, though he didn't want to, and is now trying to find Lhuna.

Cana

Bane growled at the two Brushfire wolves. We had never encountered any before, but had been warned by a passing loner to stay clear of their territory. Looks like we failed at that.

"You don't need to know our names." Bane growled. "We're just passing through, we'll be moving on now."

He stepped to leave but the she-wolf ran and blocked him off. She was close, and growling in his face.

"No one just passes through Brushfire territory." the other wolf growled, advancing towards me.

I did my best to sound menacing and ward him off, but either I was pathetic or any amount of growling would have done no good with this cold hearted wolf.

-----

Randyll

"Come on," Spirit shouted back to me. "There are others in the cave."

Suddenly, this whole ghost hunting thing was sounding very very bad. Spirit had conveniently left out the part about losing my soul. I rather enjoyed my soul.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" I asked from the mouth of the cave.

Spirit made a sound that could only be accompanied with him rolling his eyes. "You'll be fine, Randyll." he said. "Just stay back from the she-wolf outside."

I looked back to the red wolf with the creepy glowing eyes. She was advancing towards the cave, growling.

"Wait up, Spirit!" I called as I ran into the cave.

Nukpana

She gave a high pitched laugh, one that made her prey's hair stand on end. Poison was already growling in the female wolf's face.

"Poison, calm!" Nukpana barked. "You heard Fury's orders. We don't kill...at first. He wants to see them before hand."

Poison backed off as she said. "What now?" He asked.

"How about a little interrogation," Nuk grinned. "We'll start with names."

"Our names are not important," the one in front of me snarled.

"You're names are important to us," Nuk shrugged. "I suppose you'd better tell us first. Fury won't be happy if you don't. Manners are very important to him."

Poison snorted a little. "I'm sure you've heard a little bit about Fury and his...accomplishments?" Poison questioned, smiling a little. Their was hardly a single wolf out there who didn't know Fury.

Good to have you writing with us Billy Added: Lhuna has a small thin scar on the back of her head, from where she spilt it open during the Lhuna/Lido fight.

Windsong, Warrior

Windsong grinned, her tail swishing back and forth in excitement. Ghost hunting! She bounded ahead of the other two, her gangly legs springing her high into the air while her friends spoke in serious voices behind her.

She stopped, one paw suspended in the air and sniffed the air dubiously. A rotten smell came to her nose, and she wrinkled it in disgust.

"The ghost is near!" Spirit announced, shooting off ahead. Windsong yipped, running after Spirit and quickly overtaking him without much effort.

"Windsong, wait!"

Windsong turned around, a wry grin spreading across her lips. "Oh, relax, I'm a warrior. I've fought many wars Spirit, and look at me, not a scratch!"

**

Lhuna, Yellow Hill Alpha

Lhuna froze. Instinctively, a growl rose in her throat at the sound of another wolf nearby, but it was smothered by joyous song as she recognised the wolf running towards her. It was none other than Storm, one of the pups from Yellow Hill.

"Storm!" Lhuna called, a grin spreading across her face as she tore down the hill and met the yearling in a tumble, play fighting in their happiness to see another pack member after so long.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you! Have you seen any of the others? Zodiak, Rayne? Tier or Cana? Anyone?" she babbled, her white tipped tail swishing in excitement. She was so happy to see a familiar face she didn't even realise that she was overwhelming the young wolf with questions and excitement.

Storm opened his mouth to reply, but before another word could be said, a jet black wolf shot into the clearing, meeting the other two with a joyous howl and knocking them all to the ground.

"Star!" Lhuna smiled, not believing her luck.

**

Zodiak, Yellow Hill Hunter

"'Bout a year. I left as a yearling."

Rayne tilted her head a little as they walked, not really looking where they were heading. Zodiak was glad the ice seemed to have been broken between them, and surprised at how easy it was to speak to her now. Usually he was a mumbling mess.

"Why so?"

Zodiak shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't get on with my family. They... were just too..." He shrugged again, shaking his head. "They wanted me to be the perfect son, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want to be Alpha."

Rayne nodded, a gesture for him to continue. He looked at her for a few seconds, before going on with his story. "My brother took it up anyway. He was always, 'the perfect son,'" Zodiak rolled his eyes, with a little chuckle. He sighed a little, looking up at the navy, star speckled sky above, sitting down in the centre of the clearing. Rayne looked at him with a questioning look, before sitting next to him quietly.

"My Grandfather was the person closest to me. He used to tell me stories about the constellations in the sky."

He looked at her with a slight smile on his face, and it widened when she returned it. His eyes moved slowly back to the stars once more, settling upon the most famous constellation in the sky. "I met her, once."

"Who?"

"The White Wolf. Sky-Lark."

Rayne's eyes widened slightly. "When?"

Zodiak's brow furrowed ever so slightly. "Back when Lido was still alive, and Lhuna nearly killed herself trying to defeat him. I thought she was here to take her to the spirit world..." he trailed off into silence.

"You seem to care about her a lot."

Zodiak turned to regard the she wolf. "I care about all of my pack. [i]All[/a] of them."

A grin spread across her face. "Even Tier?"

Zodiak snorted. "Ha. Don't even go there." They both chuckled quietly, the sounds of their laughter carrying off into the night.

**

Oceanleaf


I let a loud and warning growl escape me as I saw the other wolf getting closer to us, pushing my brothers back further into the back of the cave when I noticed the wolf had seen us.

"You'll leave if you know what's good for you!" I snarled.

"No, no, no! I'm here to help!" he shouted to us, I had ot admit, he didn't seem like to type to be evil, but I still wasn't sure. "Really, the others are fighting the wolf ghost now" he told me and I nodded.

"Its okay, Raven, Dove" I told my brothers behind me who were both frightened and curious.

"I'm Randyll and here to assist!" he said, happily.

"I'm Oceanleaf, and these are-" I paused then. "And these are my pups, Raven and Dove" I finished, deciding it would be better to say that then telling him they were my brothers.

Rayne, Yellow Hill Beta

My laughter died after a bit and I continued staring into the sky. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zodiak look down. I diverted my eyes to his face again and he looked at me. I smiled and he looked away, coughing nervously. My smile widened and I looked down.

"Anyway," he said, looking up again, "what about you? Why were you on your own?"

I looked at him solemnly and my nose twitched for a second before I answered. "I was exiled from my other pack."

Zodiak's face became serious. "Why? Couldn't be that they didn't like you."

I smiled. "No, it's not that. Well, not really. Not at first. After what I did, they didn't like me anymore." I paused for a second before I continued. "See, my dad was the best warrior my pack had ever seen. Like, ever. And when it came to choosing an 'heir' between me and my brother, Sync, I was chosen as a result of my more…aggressive nature. The training was pure hell. The worst thing you could possibly imagine. He worked me hard, all day, every day. And, because my brother didn't get any attention from my dad, my mom gave him all her attention."

Zodiak watched me sadly. "So, you got no loving parental attention?"

"None at all," I answered. "Anyway, in addition to being worked a little too hard, he was very verbally abusive. It was as if he thought yelling insults at me was the answer to making me better. Of course…it worked. And he learned that lesson the hard way."

Zodiak's eyes widened. "You…killed him?"

I nodded. "He had it coming. I probably wouldn't have, but after a long day of training, I was walking away and he hurled insults at me, and then came a certain one that just made me…" I paused again. "…snap."

"What did he say??"

"He called me weak." I glanced at Zodiak with a devilish look. "Normally, for any other wolf, it wouldn't have mattered. But after all that I had been through, all that he had done to me, he had no place to say that."

Zodiak nodded. "So that's why you're such an incredible fighter?"

"Yup. So afterwards, when they learned what I had done to their most valuable warrior, they cast me out. And I was on my own until I found the Yellow Hill pack."

He stayed quiet for a minute. "So…if your dad was the best one there, and you killed him, that means you're better, right?"

I nodded. "Well, you gotta take into consideration that he wasn't quite what he was however many years ago. But hey, I was completely exhausted at that point." I winked at Zodiak.

"You're terrible," he said with a playful smile.

I laughed. "Oh, I know." I looked into the sky. "But you know something? I feel like that was his plan. To get me built up like that, and then break me so that I would turn on him and prove that his training was not in vain." I looked at the sky again. "Also…that's why I was always so solemn and serious." I looked at Zodiak's concerned face. "My dark past… I guess I got some of that from my father. But being out here…with you…I feel different. Like…I don't need to be so…sad anymore." I smiled.

Zodiak's face showed a little surprise before he smiled right back.

---

Does anyone need to be brought in? Because I have two characters who need some action lol.

~Rayne

**I'd love it if Lark could be brought in, Rayne..

Storm, Yellow Hill

Storm untangled himself from the fray and stared at the wolf, Star. Storm could barely remember him; Nightstar had just joined the pack before the battle with Black Tooth.

Something stirred in Storm's belly at the sight of the wolf. this was to be his moment with Lhuna, not Nightstar's. Storm fought to keep his hackles from raising. Lhuna looked up at Storm, still grinning.

"Storm?" she asked, the grin fading. "What is it?"

Nightstar glanced up at Storm, panting happily. Oblivious.

"I - Nothing, Lhuna," Storm tore his eyes away from Nightstar, and wagged his tail a bit toward her. "Where are the others? Are they hunting, or - or - ?"

Lhuna stood up and crossed over to Storm. Storm looked at her hopefully. Lhuna butted him gently on the shoulder.

"I haven't been able to find any of them, Storm..." she said quietly. Numbly, Storm sank to the ground. Lhuna sat next to him, and Storm licked her once before resting his head on his paws solemnly. A painful ache grew in his heart. He missed the pack so much...

Nightstar crossed to lay on the other side of Storm. All at once, Storm's earlier jealousy boiled up. Storm snarled at Nightstar, and sprung back onto his feet to face the stunned wolf.

Nightstar-

He wagged his tail furiously as he tumbled into Lhuna and Storm. The trio spent a few minutes checking eachother for injuries, before calming down. Then they curled up and looked at each other. "So how have you guys been?" Star asked. "I've spent the last few months in Brushfire territory."

"And they didn't find you!?" The look on Storm's face was priceless.

"I'm pretty good at dissapearing now. No one finds me unless I want to be found." His nonchalant tone hid the trace of fear in his voice, once again Star thought. "What's happening to me?"

Lhuna inhaled and her breath caught her throat. Confused she looked Star over. "You have no scent. If I wasn't seeing you with my own eyes, I wouldn't know you were there."

Spirit/Shadowstrider-

Spirit leaped from the cliff path down to the clearing. Snarling he raised his hackles and braced himself, the only way the ghost was getting in the cave was through him. Most ghosts hesitated when faced with Spirit. But this one was too far gone, howling wildly it sprang forward. Intent on tearing out his throat.

He threw his chest out and bit down on the ghost's ear, backing his wolf strength with ghost strength. The she-wolf hadn't been dead long, didn't know how to use her powers. An easy kill, the reason he'd been comfortable bringing Windsong and Randyll along.

Windsong snapped at the ghost's heels, snarling it whirled around and attacked her. Taking advantage of it's distraction, Spirit sprang onto her back and flung the pair into the spirit world. The moment they crossed over, the spirit pack attacked. The pack was made of all wolves, that had died and come before, it numbered in the thousands, and showed no mercy to rogue ghosts.

One of the ghost's turned and met Spirit's gaze, it had golden eyes and thick black and silver fur. Spirit nodded at his father and stepped back into the living world. He appeared in the cave, making the she-wolf and her pups jump. His friends just rolled their eyes. "You know Shadowstrider, I'm starting to think you like scaring people, popping out of nowhere, walking through walls. I bet you can't for your ghost-flight to manifest."

Laughing he snapped playfully at Windsong before turning to the strangers , he nodded at Randyll, with a murmured "Good job."

The she-wolf crouched protectively in front of the cubs. Cocked his head and asked. "What have we here?"

I must admit that I am a little confused, sylverdawn... Why was there no reaction whatsoever to my post?

Oceanleaf

I pushed Raven and Dove to the back of the cave again, all of these unfamiliar wolves and that one who appeared from nowhere.

"What have we here?" asked the strange one with a blue foot.

"I am Oceanleaf" I told in a low growl.

"No need to be afriad, Oceanleaf" he told me, staring straight into my eyes. I could trust him, that much I could tell, but there was something about him... "I am Shadowstrider."

Okay Will do!

Whiplash, Warrior Beta

My eyes widened a bit and my jaw lowered ever so slightly. Son...

I nodded slowly. "Yes, father."

I was hardly able to remember a time when I could call anyone father. I turned and headed back to the den. I rounded up a party and we set off. We trekked the land for what seemed like miles before an unusual scent drifted towards us on the wind.

I stood perfectly still and smelled the air carefully. I turned to my party and nodded sharply. We sunk down to the ground and trotted cautiously towards the scent. After a bit, we came to a bush. It rustled every so often. I cocked my head to one side and watched the bush in bewilderment. A few minutes later, I stood straight and tall and stalked slowly out of the tall grass we had been waiting in. The bush stopped moving immediately. I sniffed a couple more times. It was definitely a wolf.

"Excuse me for the interruption," I began, "but I'm worried that you are in some sort of danger out here alone."

Very, very slowly, a dark gray head extended from the bush. It was a young she-wolf, no more than a year old.

"Unless, of course, you are a part of the Brusfire Clan?" I asked cautiously.

The wolf watched me with curiosity for a minute. "The what?" She asked quietly.

I smiled. "Good. If you would, I'd like to bring you back with us, to our den." At this, my fellow pack mates stood. The young wolf's eyes widened and she shied back a little. I chuckled. "Don't be afraid. We are of the Warrior clan, and we protect the land from the evil of the Brushfire clan. Being out here alone, you are in great danger of their finding you. Now, if you would...?" I stepped out of the way and gestured towards our den.

One of my group members came to me. "Whiplash, sir, are you sure it's safe? She could be bluffing about the Brushfires..." He whispered.

I looked at him. "Well, that's a risk we'll just have to take. If she is, the strength of our pack will run her out. If not, I want information. I want to know who else is here."


He looked suspicious, but argued no more, and stepped back into line. I looked at the young wolf again. She was creeping slowly out of the bush, sticking low to the ground.

I smiled. "It's not a short trip back, so if we could maybe...pick up the pace?"

Her ears flattened shyly. "Sorry," she whimpered.

"No trouble," I assured her warmly.

She rose up to her full height and walked at a regular speed. I moved ahead of her and the rest of my group came in behind.

"So what's your name, kiddo?" I asked her.

"Lark," she answered timidly.

I nodded. "I am Whiplash, beta of the Warrior clan. If ever you need anything, ask for me. I'll happily oblige."

I heard a whimper of acknowledgement from behind me.

---

Hope this is good

~Rayne