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Lone Wolf: Finale

The intensity grew, and the situation took no light. The frustration on Agra's face barreled through Laren. She was absolutely terrified for her beloved, but knew better than to agitate the situation any more than she already had. Her last outburst had done her no good, even though she had expected it to. Nay, all had remained silent, as even the birds looked silently upon the questionable scene. The snow could have melted at the heat growing from the two Alpha's fractured looks. Each held something deep behind their eyes. Laren's blue, and Agra's green, their colors were as different as their secrets.

Felan, forlorn in the trees, watched through a clouded mind. He was quiet and weary, with knowledge that kept him from any real danger. But to his own credit, he was in devastating condition. He was bleeding like sweat, and tear stains curved down his grey fur. Yet his eyes were clear, and his senses did not lie. All that he saw and heard was true.

And in that silence that caused so much tension, Agra's teeth bared, a display of danger to all. Laren watched, cringing only in the slightest as she anticipated his next move. Whatever it would be, she had the sickly feeling that it would only devastate everyone.

"You do not wish to comply?" Agra breathed rather quietly. "I give you one last chance Laren. I am in no mood for games, and you tempt my anger. Give us your land and leave."

Laren, to whom the option was thrown one last time, stood her ground. "We will not leave the land that rightfully belongs to us." This time, her voice was considerably weaker, with a tremble.

Once again, all was quiet. Though the birds had flocked from their nests, and a dark, forbearing cloud had chased them. The sky was being painted grey. The wind held a soft tune, and the look in the Alpha's eyes held their own sound. Every wolf present, including Felan, watched anxiously upon this stage of nerves. All of them knew it was simply a test as to who would break first, but none of them were looking forward to any outcome.

"Laren, it is a true shame that it has come to this," Agra sighed, looking away. He turned his head directly to Felan, who could see a small, lonely tear in his eye. "If you wish it, then so be it!"

His tone had picked up, and he gave a great roar down to Laren. "If we do not freely get the land, you will never have her again!" He vigorously shook Accalia, who let out a cry of fear.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Laren shouted. "Give her back!" It was a simple demand. Though in her tone, there was as much fear and distress as there was in the green eyes of her lover.

"You want her back? You can have her!" Agra shouted.

He gripped her neck, drawing a bit of blood, and eliciting a sad cry. Accalia knew this would come. With a single, mighty shove, Agra thrust the priestess from the heights of Rough Cliff. In the minds of everyone, time grew to a standstill. They watched her slowly leave the ledge. They saw the snow just began to fall, each flake standing still.

Laren let out a shrill shriek, terror replacing her blood. Her precious love was falling to her death. Agra stood atop the cliff, eyes closed, tears barely visible.

In reality, the moment lasted hardly longer than a second. Accalia let loose one final word of love, then hit the ground with a crash that mimicked Laren's heart. As she watched the only thing dear to her die, her heart shattered, with no shard left. Even Felan was taken aback.

"NO!" Laren screeched. She rushed to the side of her dead lover's mangled body. The black wolf was a silent mess, but in a way, the body spoke. Laren stared down at her, and softly tilted her muzzle up to face her, as if there was still a chance that Accalia was alive. Laren's lip trembled, but she still could give Accalia one last kiss. Her lips met the icy lips of Accalia, and she gave her that final kiss, and wished that it could have lasted forever. Her lips stayed on the faded lips of her late love, and she held a limp paw in hers, close to her heart. Tears streamed from her muzzle, onto her lover. But no amount of tears or love could save her now.

Agra looked over the edge in quiet remorse, holding back any sign of emotion he had to the scene. And yet, he stood trembling, every muscle in his body shaking. He said nothing; he had no need to. His actions had said enough.

And to Laren, this monstrosity was the worst, most atrocious act she had ever felt. She was the Alpha, but who was anything without the one they loved? Now...she was a hollow shell. And as her lips parted her late beloved, so her heart parted her body. She silently laid Accalia's head down, and stroked her hair one last time as new snow touched it. 'I love you' she mouthed with shaking lips. Tears had never burned so much as they were now. She now knew what it was to lose everything. And it was the most painful thing she had ever felt.

With no words, Agra turned, and left the sight of Felan. His hunters were smart to remain speechless as they followed him. However, there was one wolf left. Galin stood, looking down the cliff. Even after Agra and his hunters were far from him, he stayed. Felan knew he could take him down, but he just stayed in his little hiding spot, in awe of the situation.

As Laren was saying her final farewells, her hunters all quietly left, parting into the woods, leaving their mourning leader to her own grieving, as they mourned themselves. They would bring the news to the pack, and let Laren stay to her own thoughts and sorrow. As more tears sprawled through her eyes, her mind began blanking, holding nothing but a violent sea of sorrow. 'I love you' she mouthed again.

Felan departed the scene, his sanity balancing his crazed mind for the moment, and he began evaluating everything. That was wrong. He knew it was; when his harmonica was burned, he had felt the same. With but one arrow left, and the bow that was shattered from his thrashing, he left the sorrowful cliffs behind, and yet, the pain still followed him.

Agra entered the village, empty pawed. Alni was waiting for him, but when she saw his face, she fell grim. The whole pack was speechless as their strong leader sauntered through the village, and to his burnt hut. In a strange manner, and certainly unexpected, he fell to his knees in front of the charred door, and let out the most sorrowful cry any of the pack had heard in their lives. The wolf gripped the ground where he knelt, his paws digging into the dirt, and he cried. He cried, and the pack stood in total awe. But Agra already tasted shame, so he was unmoved by this, and he let out another terrible wail.

But in lieu of the sorrow, Alni placed her paw on Agra's shoulder. The crying wolf slowly looked up to her, and was greeted by a kind smile. Agra was hit with something new at the sight of the smile. It was heavy. It was crushing. It was guilt.

The Alpha stood, and turned to his pack. These were feelings he could not bear, so in place of the feelings that made him a wolf, he shrouded himself in anger. He looked to his hunters, teeth bared, yet tears flowing. "Go, get Nilu. No questions," he barked in a troubled voice.

He then turned back to the rest of the pack, and said: "Men, women, mothers, hunters, gatherers, I don't care..." He was silent before the climax. "Get your daggers, get your bows. We take the land!"

Alni stood next to him with a look of disapproval. "What has happened to you, Agra?" she scorned. "I thought you had reasoned it all with yourself. And what of the priestess? Where is she?"

"Dead," Agra said as he walked away. The stone look on his face - a major contrast to what it was when he returned to the village - was worth many words of hate. His eyes were darted, glazed with a type of fiery intensity one would expect from a wolf who's fear and grief was taking hold. The whole Cliff-Fanged pack stood, worried.

When he saw that none of his pack were following his command, he shouted to them, "Now! Go, or you'll not eat!" He was growling in a guilty rage.

"Agra!" Alni commanded his attention.

"No!" he shouted to her. "You will NOT move me on this Alni! Get out of my sight! Now!"

The priestess was aghast at the order. Here she had thought the strong wolf had changed, but instead he was only more scorned inside. And the fact that he had caused the death of a priestess was unfathomable. Even in war, one did not go that far. She could see why he was such a mess.

Snarling, she turned from Agra, and stormed to her hut. That was not the wolf she had fallen in love with.

Not that Agra cared for that; no, Agra was too busy steaming in his own hatred. The black wolf took his spot at the fire, and felt another tear slice its way down his face. It burned. He placed his muzzle in his paws, and his tail receded between his legs.

It was just as Alni slammed the door to her hut, that Galin entered the village. He attracted much attention, and even Agra turned to look.

"Where have you been?" he snarled.

Galin stopped in his tracks, and actually backed up a bit. "I, uh-"

"Shut up!" he snapped. "You fall behind, you ought to stay behind!" He pointed to the forest from which Galin had come.

"But I-"

"NO!" Agra shouted. Galin couldn't get a word in. "You'll be lucky if you eat tonight!"

Galin shrank down a bit as the tall wolf stood and glared. "In fact," Agra continued, in a more hushed tone, "You'll be lucky if you make it to tonight. I'm so tired of you Galin. You get in the way. I think...you need to learn a lesson."

Agra slowly approached Galin in wrath, and struck him down. The poor wolf fell to the ground, and curled up, scared. Agra towered over him, and gave him a hard kick to the side, knocking the wind from the Beta, who whined and gripped his sides.

"Agra!" Alni's voice echoed through the village.

The enraged wolf turned to face the priestess, who was walking towards him. "I don't care what you're going through, but Galin is not a scapegoat." Her tone was harsh and stern.

"Don't you dare speak your Alpha like that!" he screamed at her. Tension flourished yet again.

"I'm not speaking to the Alpha, I'm speaking to you." That was a hard blow to Agra's pride, and she knew it.

"Wha...don't you..." his words fumbled on his lips.

"Dammit Agra, get a hold of yourself!" she scolded him as she walked closer.

The frustrated Agra turned from Alni, and kicked the down Beta again. Galin just whined and took it.

"Agra!!" she shouted even louder.

"What Alni? What do you want from me?!"

"I just want you back..." she said, another look of sad disapproval on her face. Her eyes seemed to beam it.

Snow was falling, untouched by the whole concept. Yet the whole pack was just as silent as the snow. Alni was being oddly gutsy, and everyone was nervous to watch the scene play out.

Though in the silence of their glare, thick and conflicting though it was, an arrow sliced through it, and caught the attention of even Agra and Alni. The thin stick, graced with a sharp arrow head, nearly lodged itself into Agra, just missing him by a hair. It grazed his fur, and faster than the wind, found its rest in the eye of Galin, who was making a feeble attempt to escape in the fog of the intensity. The arrow went deep, and blood spurted as Galin cried to the heavens.

Alni ran to his side as the small grey wolf landed in the snow with a thud. On her knees, she could see the arrow had killed him quickly. Now, he was just a bloody corpse of a Beta. Alni burst into tears, and hugged the corpse.

Agra turned from the body, more tears in his eyes.

Laren stumbled into the village with the body of her lover. She was cradling the corpse, speaking to it. As she slowly made her way to her hut, everyone stood in shock of the sight. Their priestess was dead, and their Alpha was shattered.

As Laren crept through the village, the pack could hear her whisper things to the corpse. She didn't seem insane, but the grieving was so much. Her pain radiated from her, and the whole village could just sense the awful lament of their Alpha.

Laren's paw prints in the soft snow trailed her, showing how even her walk was tattered. She was stumbling, tripping, and her balance was gone. As tears washed down her face, and fell to the ground, her sobs trailed swiftly behind, and not even the empathy from the whole pack could bring any solace.

At her hut, Laren softly nudged the door open, and slunk in. Zen, at the head of the fire pit, watched in silent. He felt bad of course, but on the inside, there was a smidge of disloyalty. Nonetheless, the loss of Accalia hit him hard. The solstice was in less than a week, and now they had no religious leader. To top it off, their Alpha was in complete disarray. Zen feared what would become of the pack.

The Beta stood and slowly approached Laren's hut. The wandering eyes of the pack refocused on his actions as he bravely sought their leader. He stood firm at her door, shaking only a bit. No one in their right mind would want to do this, but he knew that he had to talk about the future now. To wait would be practical suicide of the whole pack.

It didn't take much reasoning power to understand that Laren would be hardly social. But through Zen's scared eyes, a leader stood. Not a strong one, nor a courageous one. But it took a leader to do what he was about to do, and the respect from the pack swarmed the village. He brought a paw up to the door, and knocked softly. His cold knuckles hit the door louder and louder each time. Three knocks, and he stood back. This was like trying to wake up a sleeping beast: and he was in the maw of the monster. Through the straw, he heard a slight rumbling, as though something had toppled. He stepped back ever further, and another sound escaped the cracks of the hut.

The noises ceased, but they were accompanied by nothing more. The fear, the density, and the anxiety all stayed behind, buzzing through the minds of the pack. All eyes were on Laren's door.

It burst open, and the slightly deranged Laren stormed out. "What?" she screamed to everyone. "What do you want?!"

All stood silent, eyes wide. "Well?" she yelled. "What the hell is so damn important?!"

"L-Laren..." Zen stammered nervously.

"What is it? What is SOOOO fucking important?!"

"We need to talk about the future of the pack...I mean, with no priestess..." He backed even further away.

"The future..." Laren quieted down. She almost seemed to recede for a moment. "Yeah...I'll tell you the future..." Her eyes darted, and she smiled and angry smile. With a twitch in her eye, she scanned over the pack. Everyone she matched eyes with backed away. "Get your spears and knives, your bows and arrows...And I'll SHOW you the future!" She laughed to the sky.

Zen had a look of horror.

Felan cursed his way through the icy forest, one arrow lighter. He was wandering aimlessly, but in his mind, he knew what he was doing. But now he was back to being a hollow shell of a wolf, spazzing and twitching his way through what was now his 'life'. His eyes were dry as a desert, despite the humidity, and his tongue did little more than sag from his mouth. His footprints in the snow were even deranged.

The tear stains down his fur, were only slightly darker than the blood, but still made this biggest indent on him.

There was not much about the lone wolf left, but for the one last line that he muttered before disappearing.

And high above the forest where Felan now wandered about, as the sun was beginning to set upon the snowy mountains again, the Cliff-Fanged pack watched a new horror.

The scouts dragged Nilu back into town by her legs. The whole pack was astounded. She was starving; her ribs were visible. Her breathing was shallow and slow, and she was covered in blood. Dry of course, but the sight was still a harsh reminder of their Alpha's diminished conscious. Her fur was iced over, and she hadn't the energy to even cry. The scouts dragged the sad sight to the fire pit, and the cook threw a sloppy, bloody slab of meat on the ground in front of her. The pack watched as the scouts dropped her legs, and as she slowly rolled onto her stomach to reach the food, Alni came out.

Her face held a mood of disgust as she knelt beside the omega. Nilu had made it onto her stomach, but had no energy to crawl to the food. Alni ran her paw down the cold omega's back; she felt awful for her, but this did much to flare her temper towards Agra. In the kindness she was feeling towards the poor girl, she pushed the meat up to her muzzle. Nilu's eyes were diluted, and Alni could not tell what she was feeling through them, but she was sure that the poor wolf was thankful as she began to rip away at the meat.

Alni sat on the snow and did what she could for Nilu. It seemed that she was the only one. The rest of the pack sat around the fire - minus Agra - holding their spears and bows, just as Agra had commanded. But Alni had no weapon in her paw, and instead was content to sit by the fire with Nilu as she ate.

Nilu was sprawled on her stomach as she ate, and shivered only slightly as the priestess continued stroking her back. The priestess hated to see Nilu like this, even though she was the omega. Agra was taking things too far. And as she looked around the fire and observed the various weapons that the pack held, she realized that it was too late to go back. She sighed, and ducked her head. If only she could've spoken to Accalia before Agra ended her life. There was something about Accalia that morning that seemed wrong, and Alni had a sickening hunch as to what it was.

Although the recent events were leading up to an obvious end, the priestess knew the true end, but held it secret, for the night that Agra had spoken to the goddess, so had she. Accalia's eyes held the same look of scorn that she felt. Alni could see the green eyes clearly, their grace withholding the wrongdoing they felt, and the sad, baffled look that seemed almost conceded. Into the fire Alni stared, and she lost herself in the wander of thought. One paw on Nilu, and another holding her chin up, she was all but gone in the flames.

The pack seemed interested in what their priestess was doing, leaning forward in their expectation. But the sun moved down, the snow continued to fall, and Nilu had finished her meat, all before Alni even readjusted her position. She was a stone in front of the fire, cold and alone, but not even shivering once. She always had a paw on Nilu, who by now had melted the snow where she lay, and was resting on a patch of grass.

Even in the awkward situation, Agra never made an appearance. The pack was starting to whisper amongst themselves about their 'fearless leader', and doubt arose. Yet they stayed where they were, spears in paw, and waited. They did not want to end up like Nilu, and with Agra's current state, they knew it might happen anyways. Before he retracted into his hut, he thrashed about the village, screaming of the death of Galin. The words he said still echoed in some of the wolves ears. Death threats to Laren, the righteous killing of Accalia, and justifying Galin's death with things such as 'he was in the way'. The whole time he was throwing things at random wolves. He had shattered much of their pottery, and actually broken holes in some huts. But he had tears in his eyes, and that was perhaps the strangest thing of all. Agra was known to never cry. He boasted of his strength, his rugged toughness. And today, he just seemed to slip away.

Alni had cursed him the whole time. It wasn't known by much of the pack, but although she and Agra had gotten along, and sometimes resembled love, she had never much cared for him. But when she saw 'Nevi', she had hope. It didn't last long. As her eyes danced with the flames, she came to the realization of what had happened in the grotto. Nevi had not come back to life. Nevi had died, leaving only the hollow Agra. The first movement she made after all that time...was using a paw to wipe away a tear.

And deep below the Cliff Fanged problem, as the sun set over the mountains, the only light in the Red Pack village was that of the central fire. Zen's face was illuminated, and showed serious concern for the pack. Laren had not come out for hours after her 'speech', though every once and a while, a small cry was heard from her hut. Zen sighed and looked around to the pack. They were all sitting by the fire in the usual circle, but without their Alpha or Priestess, it just wasn't right. Everyone just sat, staring at their food, but few had taken a bite, and only one or two had actually finished. The rest let it get cold without even a taste. They just sat silently with their weapons, staring at the decorations, waiting for the next move.

"So...what do we do?" came a small voice from the pack.

Zen looked around, and rubbed his temples. "I don't know. We'll just stick with Laren for now. It's all we can do," he said.

"But we have pups to take care of, and she wants to take us to war?" came another voice.

"We don't have a choice. She's the alpha, she knows what she's doing."

Another wolf stood up. "Does she really? Look at her," he nodded to her hut, "she's a mess."

"Agreed," came from the pack.

"I have an idea," said a young wolf. "Why don't you just take control? You know, only for a little while. Until Laren's back on her feet."

"Why are you all turning to me for leadership?" he stammered. "I'm the Beta. I HELP the Alpha, I don't BECOME the alpha." He looked around to the pack. "I don't have the answers to the situation. Laren's crushed. Maybe tomorrow, she'll have a clearer mind, and we can talk it all out. But let me make this clear: I am NOT the Alpha."

"Well...we need a leader," the young wolf said, hushed.

"New idea!" another wolf blurted. "How about we vote for a temporary Alpha?" This too gained approval. She smiled. "Good! I nominate myself for starters."

"NO," Zen stomped. He was beginning to fear a power shift for the worse. "Laren is the Alpha. The end. If you don't like it, you can go suffer like Felan did." He pointed to the dark woods. The rebellious youth of the pack simmered down, and turned away, hiding their faces from the fire's light.

More of the pack, however, turned to the woods. A look of dark curiosity spread like an epidemic as the question of Felan arose yet again. What had become of the omega, many wondered yet again. But now, more had the question of who was next? Zen personally began pondering the order of the situation. First, the omega had left. Now, the priestess was dead. To top of the problems, the Alpha was losing her sanity. This left him as the only prominent figure of the pack that was still sane or alive. The graveness of the situation was just now coming to light.

Zen dropped his meat on the snow, and stood without saying a word. He hardly acknowledged anyone as he sauntered to his hut. The moonlight reflecting from the snow, he silently trekked to small hut that was next to Laren's. He opened the door, and without looking back, shut it on the whole pack. They just watched.

The rest of the night was spent with little words. The pack seemed resolute to bask in the sad moonlight and stare at the dying fire. For most, it seemed that they could relate to the fire, for just as the once great fire was dying, so were the two packs, and the moon watched, unmoved, just as the goddess. There were tears shed that night: tears of pups and mothers, fathers and sons, hunters and gatherers alike. To the pack, this was the last shred of harmony they had.

But the night fled soon enough, and morning took its place. Zen had slept hard, and his eyes shot open, revealing an awful redness around them. Nightmares hadn't plagued him as they were recently however; he had no dreams that night. Yet when he stood, he felt sick. When he put on his loincloth, he almost fell. His splitting headache screamed death to him, and he felt as such. When he was as dressed as he would be, he stretched and yawned, but it just didn't feel as good as it normally did. In fact, nothing did anymore.

Disappointed in it all, he opened the door to his hut, to face the day. What he did face was much different though. There was a wolf with a sprawled piece of parchment paper in his paw. This must've been important; parchment was extremely hard to make. He reached out and grabbed the paper, questioning the wolf: "Why didn't you take this to Laren first?"

"She won't answer her door," he answered. The pack stood behind him, and all had worried looks.

Zen sighed; this couldn't be good. He took the note, and held it closed in his paw as he walked past the wolf and over to Laren's hut. Outside the door, he shouted in, "Laren, it's Zen. We're all worried about you!"

He knocked hard on the door. "Laren, c'mon out!" He got no answer.

The Cliff Fanged pack fared better and worse with Agra. The black wolf was storming about the village, cursing and yelling at the whole pack. Alni stayed in her hut during his rampage, holding the thin Nilu. Agra had not slept with her that night - in fact, no one knew where Agra had gone that night. In the early morning, he appeared in the middle of the village, screaming at the pack to get up. And now, he was screaming at them to get their weapons.

As the pack scrambled, the angry Agra walked to the outskirt of the village, where in the snow, a small lump of fresh dirt lay uncovered. Galin was here, dead and out of his way. He kicked the dirt, and with a huff, muttered a few curses to the corpse.

He gave a snarl to the grave, and turned his back to it. In the center of the village, the wolves who had their weapons were sitting around the fire, eating their breakfast of meat and a few berries. Agra walked to his spot, and sat with a loud thud. His meat was promptly brought to him by the nervous cook, and he easily tore into it.

After his first bite, he began speaking. "Tomorrow, we prove that we are the superior pack!" he shouted.

The pack gave him off looks. "Laren will be at the cliffs of the sea, and so shall I!"

The pack's looks began to be that of being unnerved. Agra just smiled.

"Agra!" Came a shout from behind him. He turned to face the voice.

Alni stood in the doorway of her hut. "What on earth are you babbling about?!"

He stood slowly and chuckled. "Eat well today!" he ignored the priestess. "And we shall eat better tomorrow!"

Zen sat by the fire with eyes wider than the sun. He was shaking violently, and couldn't speak. He had already vomited anything in his system, and was now dry heaving. Gripping himself tightly, he just rocked back and forth by the fire, trying to warm up, but only getting colder. He was panicking now; of course, it was reasonable. With a quick look over his shoulder, he saw that the scouts were carefully dragging Laren's hanged body to the fresh grave now. He snapped back around and managed to puke up more.

He didn't know what to do; there was no Alpha now, and the pack was looking to him for leadership. He wasn't a leader, he was the Beta! And yet, now he was in charge of a pack calling for war. The outraged pack had their weapons ready now, and wanted blood. Zen was scared.

"Zen!" a wolf cried out as the pack gathered around him. "We need revenge! First our priestess, and now our Alpha!" another burst out.

"N-Now hang o-on, Laren d-d-did herself in..." he stuttered.

"That changes nothing! It's Agra's fault she did it!" the same wolf shouted. The roar of the pack was overwhelming.

"I know! B-But we're in no c-condition. The p-pack is falling a-apart...." He gripped his sides tighter.

"Well what did that note say?" a young, female wolf asked.

Zen's eyes grow wider as he remembered the unopened parchment. He picked it up from the ground, and with a trembling paw, opened it. Aloud he read: Tomorrow at the Cliffs of the Sea, I will be there alone. Come, and maybe we can sort through this.

The pack gave a screech of anger. "It's a trap!" someone shouted. "I say we kill him!" another shouted.

Zen stood, and tried to get a stance, flimsy as it was. "I know it's a trap. He w-wanted to kill Laren," he said, doing his best to control the stammer. "You all want war? We're all fucked anyways..." He turned away from the wolves.

"Zen, if we kill him, we can pull the pack back together!" one suggested.

"We'll spring a trap! We can hide in the trees, and get him when he doesn't expect it!"

"You're all idiots!" he shouted. He fell back to the ground in tears. "Laren would know what to do..."

The pack hushed. "That's why we need to kill him," one quietly said.

"Zen, look, if the scouts go with you, it'll be over in only a few seconds," another said. But this caused an upheaval from the scouts.

"Scouts?! Agra's going to have his whole damn pack there! We won't go in alone," they stated.

"Well you're the only ones for the job!" a female shouted. "We have pup's to take care of, and food to get!"

"You'll have no pup's OR food if we die!" a scout shouted at the girl.

Another scout stood. "If you want war, you go to war! You don't send someone else to fight!" This was turning into a heated debate.

"And if our mothers die?" a wolf shouted. He was obviously a father.

"You're all going to die if you don't fight!" shouted a scout.

"Laren wouldn't stand for this!" the father claimed.

A scout turned fire red and screamed at him, "Our Alpha died today! Don't bring her into this!"

"It's the truth though!" a mother shouted.

"Laren would send everyone!" a scout blurted.

A female gatherer stood. "Our Alpha respected us, unlike you brutes!"

"Zen knows that we work as a pack! He learned his values straight from Laren!" a female scout retorted.

"No! Zen knows how to understand the values of the pack, just as Laren did!"

Everyone turned to face the cringing Beta. "Well?" a scout demanded.

"Zen, you have to send the scouts!" cried out a teenage pup.

"You know nothing of war!" a scout yelled harshly.

"And what do you know of it?" her mother snarled.

The scout put his foot forward. "My father died in the raids!"

"The raids? That was over seven cycles ago!"

"Fuck you! He was my father!" the scout screamed.

A male wolf stepped forward. "Don't you talk to her like that! Go fall from a cliff!"

A scout, a friend of the other, pulled out a dagger and waved it at the wolf. "Hold your tongue or I'll cut it from your mouth!"

"You want to fight?" he taunted with his own dagger.

Both the scouts and the pack growled at each other with anger in their eyes. Zen stood again. "We are not angry at each other!" he shouted. "We are angry at Agra! And if we fight with each other, then he wins."

The pack lowered their fists, and listened to what he had to say. "If you want war, you'll get it. But we go in as a pack, and we come out as a pack." Zen's eyes flared. "And we quit the bickering! Laren would know what to do, but Laren...Laren's gone. You're stuck with me, and that's tough, I know. But you won't give a shit about this if we lose our land and our village. As I said...if you want war, you'll get it. Take your weapons and sharpen them, and meet back here tomorrow morning prepared to take back what's ours." He spit on the ground, and stormed off to his hut.

As his door slammed shut, the pack gave each other furious glares, but went their ways, with their weapons. The snow, stomped on and melted with the heat of fury, kept falling.

Yet in the Cliff Fanged village, as the sun hit high noon, the whole place bustled with frenzy. Wolves were being ordered around by the scouts, and Agra himself was having a hissy fit. Left and right he was hitting his pack, but they continued to do as they were told. Most of them rationalized that the hits weren't as bad as what insubordination would bring.

In Alni's hut, Nilu was still sleeping; she had gotten no rest while she suffered her punishment on howl rock. To be offered the priestess's bed was a sign to the whole pack that Alni disapproved of Agra. She scorned his every movement as he bossed the pack around. Every flick of his wrist, every blow that he struck was another disappointment to her. As he struck down another female gatherer, she just shook her head.

The snow was falling at an odd pace; It was not fast, nor was it slow. Yet it seemed to be in haste, quickly replacing the fallen ones with fresh, alive flakes. Alni huffed, causing a plume of steam, and turned her back to Agra. She had lost all hope in him. As a tear rolled from her eye, she slammed the door behind her.

The Lone Wolf held nothing better. He sat on the very cliffs he had sat upon with the firewood, staring out to the vast expanse of the frozen sea. No twitching plagued him, and he did not spaz. He just stared out, his mind a trove of nothing more than the soft memories of his mother's harmonica. The snow danced to the memory, reminding him of the day the end began. He sighed and bowed his head, an empty shell of the wolf he was the last time he sat upon these cliffs.

Agra stood on the cliffs of the sea, Alni by his side. Now was the time to take the land. He didn't even care that Alni had no taste for what he was about to do. He would do it anyways.

Staring expectantly into the misty forest, he saw a grey wolf come to view. This threw him off; he was expecting Laren. As the Red Pack Beta came into the clearing of the cliffs, Agra called to him, "Where is Laren? Has she sent you out of fear?" He chuckled.

The Beta calmly said, "Laren is gone. I am here to negotiate with you."

A smile lit up Agra's face. Everything had gone better than expected. "Well, then shall we begin?"

The Beta darted his eyes and flared his nostrils. "I suppose so."

All the while, Felan watched from a bush. He lay in wait, but was ready to pounce. For now though, he let the scene play out.

Zen, with a sharp glance behind him, said, "So what do you have to say?"

Agra chuckled again. "Anything I want."

A breeze blew through the trees as the two figureheads had their stare-down. The snowflakes sliced through the mist like butter, and landed silently on the ground between Zen and Agra. The tension grew like thick vines, covering anything and everything.

"Well, I've grown a bit tired of this game," Agra shrugged. He held up three fingers, and after only a moment, his scouts fell from their trees, and the rest of the pack jumped from the bushes and trees behind them. They had shining daggers, long spears, and loaded bows.

Zen backed up, a face full of disgust. "Attack!" he shouted.

From behind him, his pack charged from the forest, and launched the first arrow. It darted over Agra, and struck the heart of one of his scouts. Agra, in retaliation, shouted, "Kill them all!"

It was a wall of death; the two packs charged, the scouts on the front line. Spear hit spear, and daggers dripped blood. Slash after slash, stab to stab, wolves began dying. Agra had pulled an axe from his back, and began hacking away at the Red pack.

The white snow turned red, as the second body dropped. A hatchet to the face, and this wolf was down. There was a shrill cry as the mother of the wolf watched in despair, and was soon killed mercilessly by an arrow.

Another piercing shriek reverberated the area, and another soon followed. But the death toll had begun. Wolves killed wolves, and Agra was having a slaughterfest.

Things fell to the hands of confusion fast. Soon identities were being confused, and wolves were killing members of their own packs. Some even killed themselves. It was fast. It was brutal.

On the outskirts of the battle, Alni stood, holding Nilu. The two watched on in horror as the two packs vigorously tore at each other, and at themselves. Agra was a center for attention, as the most blood spilled was around him.

The numbers of the battle were falling fast. At the start, there was a multitude of wolves. The whole cliff side was full of them. It was only minutes before there were half left, and minutes after that that there were only scattered battles. Agra, stained in blood, had found his last target though, and the battle was to be short.

Zen, who was having a hard time managing himself, was hardly standing at the end of it all. He was hacked away at, and had lost a fair amount of blood. But he split the skull of an attacking wolf, and turned to face his next opponent. There were few left, but the important one was charging at him. Agra was upon him in less than a second, and swung his axe down on Zen with vigor. Zen dodged, but barely. With his dagger, Zen thrust at Agra, but missed by a lone hair.

In shock of almost being stabbed, Agra curved his axe at Zen's head. The Beta ducked as fast as he could, but it was too late. The axe tore his ear clean from his head. He screamed in pain, but took the opportunity to slash a huge crimson line down Agra's gut. The black wolf howled in pain. He brought his axe high, and brought it down like a hammer. This time, he did more damage, for just as Zen backed away, the Axe sliced his left paw clean from his arm. As the Beta yelped, Agra kicked him on his chest, and knocked him to the ground. When he was down, Agra stomped on his face, and kicked his gut. He would enjoy this. Once again, he brought the axe high.

But a single yell stopped the whole battle. "AGRA!" came from a bush. He turned to see the source, and was astonished to see Felan jump from his hiding place and charge him. The little wolf was running so fast that Agra could not bring his axe to face him.

Felan punched Agra left, then right, then left again. Agra stumbled back upon the cliff. "You little bastard!" he cursed Felan.

Felan huffed and shouted one last thing. "FUCK YOU!"

He charged Agra, and pressed both paws on the large wolf's shoulders. With one final heave, he and Agra flew from the cliff.

Time grew slow one last time. Just as they left the ground, and began soaring above the misty depths, the two wolves looked into each other's eyes. What were looks of hate, became soft looks of solace.For in that last moment, in the final second of life that they shared, they both realized something in each other's eyes. They both realized that deep down, deep in the deepest part of their hearts, a wolf still existed. Their eyes became that of understanding and regret. Yet, they also held a sort of realization. In that last moment, they felt their heart beat once more, and tears of acceptance accompanied them to the depths of the cliff.

THE END