Denali

The moon hung low in the starry sky that night. A chill hung in the air over the forest. Owls hooted, bats flew to feed on insects, and a pack of Wolves chased down a lone Elk, isolated from it's herd due to being too old to keep up it's pace with the rest of the herd. As the Elk ran for it's life, a Wolf bolted in front of the Elk, catching it by surprise, and biting down hard just under it's chin. The remaining Wolves in the Wolf pack ganged up on the poor beast.

The wild canines engorged themselves on their hard-earned meal. The life energy from the meat revitalizing the bodies of the Wolves. After eating, the Alpha Male of the pack, a big gray wolf with a jet black streak running down his back and only one ear declared the pack of Wolves should rest to help regain their stamina and digest their meals.

So the pack of Wolves took a quick collective nap. As he slumbered, a light brown furred Wolf had a strange dream. In the dream, the pack of Wolves traveled through the mountains when an avalanche occurred. The Wolves tried as they might, but no matter how hard they ran, they weren't fast enough to outrun the wall of snow, and the wall of snow and ice buried them all alive.

The light brown furred Wolf awoke with a violent start. Catching his breath, he looked around and saw that his pack was still alive and resting.

The wolf laid down, but tried not to fall asleep again.

A few moments later, the pack got up, finished with resting, and the wolves followed their leader, but the brown furred wolf couldn't stop thinking about his dream. He finally decided to talk to his brother and sister.

"Koda, Taino, last night I had a bad dream." Said the brown Wolf.

"What was it about, Denali?" Asked his sister Koda.

"In the dream, our pack was scaling a mountain when an avalanche buried the pack alive. Then I woke up. Could this be a sign?" Denali asked.

"Don't be stupid! It's just a coincidence." Said his brother Taino.

"Maybe it was just a nightmare. Sometimes nightmares are just nightmares." Koda said, trying to comfort her brother.

"...you know what, Koda? Maybe you might be right, maybe it is just a nightmare. Maybe I'm just overreacting..." Denali said.

So the Wolf pack continued roaming in search of food and shelter, until their trek brought them to the foot of a mountain that looked just like the mountain from Denali's bad dream. Denali froze in fear.

The Wolves ahead of him stopped and looked behind themselves to see what was wrong with him.

"Denali, why have you stopped?" Asked the Alpha Male's mate.

"Last night, I had a bad dream about this mountain. This mountain doesn't feel safe to travel to me. I think we should take another path." Denali said.

"Denali, either you follow us down this path, or you are no longer a member of this pack!" Threatened the Alpha Male.

"There was a pause from Denali, followed by "Fine. I'd rather be alone than dead, anyway!" The brown furred wolf then ran away in the opposite direction, his sister and brother running after him in equal parts concern and frustration. Denali ran and ran until he found himself on a small hill above a small green canyon above a creek. The rest of the pack of wolves headed out without the three siblings. Denali laid on top of the rock on the hill.

Koda and Taino walked up to their brother.

"Are you feeling alright, Denali?" Koda asked.

"I hope you're happy Denali, the pack left without us because you had to be a drama queen!" Taino snarled.

Denali then lifted his head up in a start and looked towards the mountain that their pack was crossing. Their was a strong, terrible tremor pulsating from the top of the mountain. Denali, Koda and Taino watched in horror as a wall of snow and ice fell downwards from the top of the mountain, covering everything in it's path. The three wolves ran towards the mountain to see if their pack was okay. When they got to the mountain, they were shocked and crushed to see violently shuddering wolf feet and tails enveloped in the fallen wall of ice and snow.

The three wolves frantically dug into the snow, desperately trying to free their pack mates, until they collapsed out of sheer exhaustion.

As Denali, Koda and Taino lay on the ground, trying to catch their breaths until they recovered their energy, Taino said "Denali... ...you were right... ...we should've listened to you all along."

Despite all their digging efforts, they failed to save their pack.

Denali gave a mournful howl in tribute to his former pack, his sister Koda then gave a mournful howl in tribute, followed by Denali's brother Taino giving a mournful howl.

The wolves wandered aimlessly across the open woodlands for several days until they had a pang of hunger in their bellies. Taino caught the scent of a pheasant nearby and followed the scent, his siblings trailing after.

Crouching under shrubs, the three wolves saw two Pheasants in a clearing. As Koda rushed out and grasped one of the pheasants, the other pheasant started to fly away, but then a female wolf that Denali and his siblings had never seen before leapt out from the other side of the clearing and grabbed the second pheasant by the neck.

Denali looked at the she wolf and his breath hitched in his throat when he saw her pure white fur and her sky blue eyes.

"Hello, my name is Denali! This is my sister Koda and my brother Taino. We're the last of our pack." Denali greeted.

"And who might you be?"

There was a pause from the female wolf, followed by "My name is Chukchi. My tribe was killed in a forest fire, and I'm the only survivor."

Koda then gave Denali her pheasant and said "We'll give you two some time alone." With a wink.

His siblings then skulked away.

The two wolves ate some of the pheasant, Denali being mindful to save some meat for his brother and sister to eat, too.

Satisfied, Chukchi then looked into Denali's eyes, Denali looking into hers.

"Say, did you say you were the last living member of your pack? Would you like to travel with us?" Denali asked.

"...I would love that." Said the she wolf.

The she wolf then rubbed up affectionately against him.

The four wolves set off together, founding a new pack.