From Death sprouts Life



 From Death



 sprouts Life

The story of a young wolf

Who finds Faolan's pack

And they both make the discovery of a lifetime.

By BCEngine

Prologue (Elimah)
''Hawk came streaking towards the camp. I saw him pant heavily. "Elimah!" He cried.''

''I ran up to him. He clung onto breath, and said, "Go get the Alpha, and quick! They have come, just as the Healer foretold in his fires."''

''And by "they," Hawk ment the Clan Wolves. Our whole wolf tribe used to be loners, good loners, that had been born that way. We beleive that only the ones who had been banished and become a loner are bad. For as soon as they set a paw in the forest after banishment, they change dramatically. Their eyes grow more yellow than green, their pelts seem to grow shabbier and shabbier, and their minds twist into awful knots that can only be untied by hatred, hatred of the Clans. And behind their hatred was fear. The fear of the Blood Watch tearing them apart. We had sensed the tremors before the earthquake, and had found the ice bridge. We set out across it months ago.''

''"Honerble Alpha," I say as I stand at the entrance of the den and dip my head respectfully. "Hawk is back. They're here!"''

''"They're here?" The Alpha, named Jasp, gasped.''

"Yes, sir. We can finally meet them. They don't know how to do things around here. It's much different than the Beyond!"

''Jasp nodded. "We shall meet them soon. We must rally a band of wolves to go meet them."''

''I was exited. I hoped that I was picked for it! I knew I was. I had proved so much to Jasp, like hunting and fighting, even with one ear gone. We didn't beleive in malcadhs like Clan wolves do. We just see it as a deformity and move on. ''

''Jasp stepper out onto the Speakingrock and howled. "All wolves, gather! Tonight, we must assemble a small band of wolves to go meet the Clan wolves. And I have chosen these five..."''

I almost burst with anxiety.

"Clover, Lerrita, Balo, Hazel, and Hawk."

''But then my joy burst, but not with happiness. It burst into teeny tiny peices.''

Chapter 1 (Faolan)
Edme came up and nuzzled me. "Faolan, we just got here a few days ago. We hardly know anything of the landscape!"

"I know, dear," I whispered back, licking her. "Don't worry. We'll explore the land. There's much more land here than the beyond. I can tell."

But fist, we had to eat.

I had once again found the scarred, battered white horse one night. We somehow silently communicated, only it wasn't lochinvyrr. The horse was living, breathing. I looked into his eyes and said in my mind, ''We must hunt for food. We don't see any other big game. I hope you understand.''

I do, the horse said back. ''I know your kind hunts us down so you can eat and live. As long as you hunt no new mother or calf, there will be plenty of us.''

And I will make sure my pack does lochinvyrr ''on every one we bring down. You have my word. ''I replied. The horse nodded, neighed, and streaked off into the afternoon light.

That evening, they had brought down their first horse- a brownish red mare with black mane and tail. Edme locked eyes with it, and preformed ''lochinvyrr. ''We saw the rest of the herd look back, a look of gratitude in their eyes. Then they ran off after the white horse. Then we dragged our prey back.

"Hello, Gwynneth!" I called to the Masked Owl. She was on the ground near the den, putting the prey she caught into a pile. "I caught some extra ones," She said. "Just in case anyone needs something more."

I sighed. Gwynneth was going blind, almost completely. She didn't land well, and had trouble taking off. She was getting old. Faolan could tell. Her voice had matured greatly, but it grew softer at times and ragged with mucus that she needed to cough out to speak.

Toby and Burney were just moons away from being full-grown grizzly bears that could fend for themselves. I remembered the way Thunderheart looked, her thick, brown fur, the fringes of her fur glinting in the sunlight as we hunted, and her big, dark brown eyes. Her size and apetite amazed me the most. She always insisted I eat the liver of the moose to grow fat for winter. I used to be annoyed by it. Now, I'd give up an eye and my tail to be eating with my second mother. The two cubs were reflections of Thunderheart to me. But when they go off on their own, that'd be two less out of the pack. I looked up at the clouds, patches of bare night sky showing through. How were we ever going to create new ways of doing things? It'd be too painfull to give up some of our old customs, like the ''byrrgis. ''

The Whistler came up to me. "Faolan, what are we going to do now?"

I looked at him, my marrow seeming to break as I said these three words:

"I don't know."

I just don't know.

Chapter 2 (Elimah)
"Elimah!" Jasp called after me as I walked toward my den, dissapointment flooding my very pelt for not being chosen for what was to be another of my first real adventures- The other adventure being the travel on the ice bridge.

I turned around. With my missing ear I could hear his heart pounding. But not in the normal way it was. It was beating-beating with ''sympathy. ''I could tell. "Elimah, would you mind helping paint the fur of those going on the quest? It's an important job, you know."

I lightened up a bit and nodded. "Of course, sir. But I don't have expirience painting fur. What if I get the symbols wrong?"

"You'll do fine," Jasp assured me. "If you have any trouble, Healer has the Bones of Nyyrfile To help you."

I accepted the job and thanked Jasp, then walked back to my den, slightly releived to at least have a job where I could help the questors. My denmates, Lerra and Syca (Short for Sycamore) were already there.

TBC

