Brother Wolf

A shadow moved in the night, four paws silently approached the high rock, and as they did, the scent of hunger and rage and the stench of tired steps announced the presence of the wolf returned.

The watch noticed all this, and from the darkness that protected them they observed. If it was a friend, they would greet him, if it was a foe, things would get much worse.

The moon showed them all who the intruder was, it was their brother. The first of the night watch, a young wolf they called HeavyStep howled into the night, announcing the newcomer.
“Brother Wolf has returned, SharpEyes is here”

Others came about, WhiteTail and LongSnout had already surrounded their unintended target, just in case it was the bearer of bad news for the pack.

SharpEyes looked about himself and called loudly so everyone could hear.
“I am SharpEyes, I come with news of my mission, I must speak to the elders”

By then the whole pack was bursting with activity. The young ones were awake and pouncing away in their endless play, the mothers watched them with care, but always from a distance, let them know that they were free to try what they wanted.

OldGray and OldWhite came to meet SharpEyes, all the others moved away to let them pass; after all, no one stands in the path of the elders.
A single sniff was all OldWhite needed to know that SharpEyes had not bitten living thing for days, he must have traveled at top speed back to this place, not worrying for food or drink.

“BullHead” He called, “bring pray for SharpEyes, his journey was long and exhausting, we will go by the creek so he can drink as well”

SharpEyes did not say anything yet, he simply followed the two old wolfs to the small pond that the creek formed in this part of the woods, once he had enough to drink for a start he spoke.

“It took me far more than I had believed, the TwoLegs travel fast when they want, and following without being smelled or seen was difficult”

“What have you seen then?” inquired OldGray

“They are more dangerous than I had expected” replied SharpEyes grimly.

A snarl from the trees announced the arrival of LongFang, the third elder and the former leader of the pack, a proud giant of a wolf, grayed fur with a thin white line on the head, his days of glory had long since past, but the pride of who he had been was always present.
With a look at the others he strode into the meeting and said:

“I don’t know why we are bothering so much with the TwoLegs, this winter alone will kill them all, they have no fur to keep them warm, and their hide is thin, I’ve broken it myself.
They have no fang, no claw, no speed, their younglings are so clumsy it’s a wonder they survive, they are weak and few in number, and they are moving away, towards the yellow star, why should we be sending numbers to watch them? Why send our best scout when we have so much to do just to survive? The Great bears are pushing more every year and the pray gets faster, we need every wolf we can count on”

OldGray sighed heavily. “You know my stance on this matter LongFang, but please, let SharpEyes tell us what he’s seen”

With a look, he indicated for SharpEyes to continue.
“It is true that they have no teeth, or claws, but they use the tree and the stone and can cut through hide as thick as the Mammoth. They have no fur, but they have harvested the thunder and keep it in their nests and there is no darkness where they go, nor cold.
Their numbers have increased since we last saw them and in that they make up for their lack of speed, I saw them in the hunt, they are deliberate, precise and deadly. I very much fear that if they decided we were to become pray, there would be not much we could do about it but to hide with the wind on our favor”

LongFang Snarled again. “That is the talk of the hare, we are not hare, we are Wolf, we do not become pray to the Great Bear, why should we become pray to the TwoLeg?”

Several of the pack nodded and howled their agreement, by now the assembly around the elders and SharpEyes included the strong of their number, all but the watch and the pups and the mothers were listening to the conversation.

OldGray barked and silence was restored, then he spoke. “SharpEyes, why do you think they would call us pray and hunt us? We stray away from their path, like we do with the Cougar and the Bear”

BullHead came about with a mouse, it was crony because of the winter, but it had enough meat on the bones to satisfy a quick hunger, he threw it at SharpEyes feet and retreated to a place where he could listen.
SharpEyes sniffed the game, turned it about with his snout and then ate it slowly. OldWhite noticed something about the way in which he did so and then he knew.
“You have more to tell us about the TwoLeg” OldWhite said.

SharpEyes looked about, all eyes on him; the smell was that of anticipation. He sighed and continued. “I do, wise elder, but what I’ll say next is difficult to explain. As OldGray say, I do not believe that they will call us pray, there’s plenty of weaker and slower meat about these parts, what I meant to say was that they have the power of a thousand strong, even though they are but a few dozens.
You see, their power comes not only in their number, but in their uncanny ability to work together, they hunt as one, they live as one. It is true that their young ones are tiny and unable to care for themselves for many a moon, but they care for their pups for long, even after they are ready to hunt about. They stay together and bond with each other beyond their place in the command. The TwoLegs are creatures of bonding, by themselves they are weak, together they are stronger than the sum of their efforts”

OldWhite considered these words, as he meditated on what he had seen and heard and smelled, LongFang barked loudly. “If they are as strong as you say, then more the reason to stray from their path, let us go towards the bright star, into the white lands, where they do not like to hunt, we’ll have a tough time getting food but we will not run against them anymore”

OldWhite cried quietly, a single cry, as comprehension dawned on him. “Tell me, SharpEyes, did you go near them?”

The stillness in the air could be touched, all eyes turned to the young scout as if a pronouncement of banish had been made.
“I did” said SharpEyes and the barks and snarls showed him the pack’s disapproval of such bold move. LongFang stepped on the cold grass under his feet as if ready to attack. Of all in the pack, he was the one with more reason to hate the TwoLeg.

OldGray barked aloud and restored silence once more. “Tell us how it happened”

“I followed their pack for many nights, always at a distance, their scent is strong and easy to find, and they put the captured thunder at the center of their circle so they are easy to see from a day’s walk. In my travel I met with others, and I talked to them, I asked about what they had seen and heard. I spoke to Bobcat, I spoke to Snake, I spoke to Owl. They are all scared of TwoLeg and their stone and their tree and their thunder, many told me they wear their pray on their shoulders, maybe to tell all others that they can kill Mammoth, or maybe to stay warm. Many explained to me how they feed the young and the sick first, and the strong hunters sometimes pass hunger when there is not enough. I saw them burn the meat of their pray to make it easy to eat. I saw them eat the plant and the soil as well, I saw them laugh together play together, even the old ones.

At first none of this made sense to me, but then I started to understand, they have something no other pack that walks these lands has. I cannot say what that is, but they are different.

One night, fourteen moons ago it got cold. It got colder than it ever had before, I had been living on hare and mouse and bird, and not much of it, I was hungry and tired and fell asleep, much to my surprise when I woke up they were there, three of the TwoLegs had come looking for me. Maybe they knew I was following, maybe they just saw me that night, but they carried me to their thunder and warmed me up, then they gave me water and they gave me their hunt, as if they did not need it at all”

The howls of outrage and surprise pierced the night as tooth and nail. LongFang jumped in front of SharpEyes and showed his bite. “You have betrayed this pack, you have allied yourself with them and now you come to tell us what they want you to say. I have fought these TwoLeg long before you came; we had to stand our ground when they started hunting in our territory. I lost some of my best to this war, and now you come and you tell us that they fed you!”

OldWhite howled so loud it could be heard for miles; even LongFang was taken aback at the eldest doing this. Then the old wolf came and pushed LongFang away from SharpEyes. “You say you stood your ground, but let us remember what happened then, for I was already an elder in those days. LongFang, we fought the TwoLeg and we lost our hunters, we had to crawl away in the end and hope for a better season in the white lands, we could not defeat the TwoLeg then and we cannot defeat them tomorrow, no matter where we go.”

LongFang looked about, rage fading from him at the remembrance of the bad times of past. “What do you say then, eldest, are we to give up? To become their pray?”

“I think there is another way” said OldGray. “You see, I also have spoken to others, I have spoken to Cougar and to Bobcat and to Great Bear… yes, we can talk to Great Bear when we have to, it is not all hostilities, for his survival is at risk just as ours.
Most agree that staying away from TwoLegs is the best way to go, and to hope that one day they won’t decide that Bear meat or Cougar meat tastes good when burnt. I say they may be another way around this problem”

All Wolves listened intently; the only one not looking at the gray furred elder was OldWhite. As he looked to the great moon he knew the paths that lay in front of them, and he liked neither of them.

OldGray continued. “SharpEyes, you were sent on a mission, that which you have fulfilled beyond my expectations. You were sent to follow the TwoLeg and to watch them, to asses how much of a risk they presented to us, and how to quell that risk if it were possible. In every sense you have shown me that my thoughts on this matter are correct.

If we are to survive the coming of the TwoLeg we cannot fight them, for we already know we will loose against their tree and stone. We cannot run, for they are as good a hunter here as they are in the white lands and nothing will stop them should they decide to go and find us starved and cold. But we can ally ourselves with them. By caring for SharpEyes when he was too tired to go on, they showed us the key to our survival. If we hunt with the TwoLeg, we will ensure our passing of the winters.”

Nobody spoke. Nobody knew what to say, such a proposal was beyond the wildest dream of the Wolf.

“We have always traveled alone” said LongFang. “We have survived hunting by ourselves, why should we ally ourselves with TwoLeg? Why should we give up what we are to become their slaves?”

“Because they would care for us as they do for their young” said OldGray. “They would take the bite from their mouths to give it to us if it meant our lives. We would not be their slaves, we would be their friends”
Howls and snarls and barks came from every corner of the woods. Some screamed their disapproval, some were doubtful of the ideas being spoken in the circle. The moon moved in the sky before calm and silence came back to the assembly.

“I will not do this” said LongFang. “I’d rather spend my winters in hunger in the white lands before I give myself to the TwoLeg”

“I expected you to say this” said OldGray. “I am the youngest of the Elder, too young some say, but I am an elder still. As I said, I have spoken to others, and among them, few feel the same way, Bobcat believes the same things I believe, and some of their house are thinking of some day approaching the TwoLegs, they are much more proud than we are, and they have considered this matter seriously. I propose that those who want an alliance defect fron this pack and come with me, as I defect myself”

“You will turn away from your brothers to go with the TwoLeg, this is not a plan for survival, this is treason and trickery, and you are banished, you and any on this pack who think the TwoLeg will offer us a better life. OldWhite, you say nothing to this!?”

OldWhite kept looking at the moon. “I’m far too old to understand what any of this means, I will not survive another winter in the white lands, and my spirit would be broken if I let a TwoLeg feed me, I fear I have no place in this pack or in this woods anymore” And with that he strode into the night, the last walk of the old wolf when he goes to die in a solitary clearing.

That night many things changed. After much deliberation and much showing of teeth and claws, two packs were created. DeepHowl, the leader of the original, with LongFang as his elder started the long journey to the white lands, and SharpEyes, leader of the new, with OldGray as his elder took south to search for the TwoLeg, with only two more. From the distance, OldWhite looked upon his kind, knowing that as he withered away, so would the old ways of the wolf. This was a new world, a world of savage wolves and TwoLeg wolves, a world that spared no moment for an elder too old to hunt for himself.