• Chapter I: Water


    The second awakening of the injured male proved not so violent, his lids lightly fluttering to a brilliant beam of light. The swallow of darkness encompassing his vision slowly faded, beginning to depict the faces of those around him. The second sense he recovered was his feeling, as he was rushed with an overwhelming ache in his head, as if a restless fairy were beating on the inside of his skull. As sound flooded his ears, the bothersome mumbles were becoming more clear now.

    "Ah, he's awaken." Said one voice to the right of him. His two rounded ears perked, his skull slowly lifting from the ground. Two pairs of eyes stared at him in surprise and curiosity, their stare nearly burning through his forehead. With a brief grunt he stirred, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position. The two other wolves, now distinctly female by their voice, took a few steps away.

    "Well, good morning, Earth wolf." The other female spoke, her kind cyan eyes focusing on him. He noticed abundant fur of a pure white color, relative to the snows of the Arctic. Decorated along her limbs were vibrant tribal markings of colors that would depict a stream, ocean, and lake, all fused into one. The female that stood confidently at her side fared a quite different look, presenting a vibrant pelt of a faint turquoise color. Along the entirety of her figure was cast splashes of color of what appeared to be a sea foam color, along with a pair of seaweed colored eyes.

    "Don't worry, you're fine; the worst ailment you suffer is a headache from the blow to your head." The same white female remarked, a subtle chuckle escaping from her lips. The other ocean-resembling female took a step towards the injured male. His ears pulled back slightly as he pulled away from her, hunching in a rather uncomfortable sitting posture. The approaching female frowned, stopping quickly in her tracks as her skull lightly tilted.

    "Fear not, we mean you no harm." She spoke again, looking back to the lighter colored female. "On the contrary, Nymph and I have nursed you to health." She explained as her gaze met his, her confidence not fading as his was. "Now, tell me again; what is it that you go by?"

    The female's question came as shock, his expressing washing into one of confusion as his gaze darted between the two quickly. Clearing his throat, a hoarse grunt again escape his partially gaped jaws, his tail curling around his haunches.

    "Orion." He muttered on an airy breath, his voice light and strained on contrary to his normally deep, booming vocals. Nymph now took a step forth to speak, arranging herself beside the blue-ish female.

    "Well, Orion, Sera and I would like to welcome to the abode of the Water wolves. You're not the only of your kind that has been saved." Nymph spoke with smooth, dulcet vocals. Sera nodded in accordance, and almost instantly a gasp sputtered from Orion's larynx as scenes from the attack now popped up in his mind. Scurrying to his feet in an unbalanced stumble, he slowly looked around the camp. Everywhere, wolves similar to Sera and Nymph, males and females alike, were hung over familiar faces of his pack. He could hear groans of pain, yelps, and some encouraging chatter. Shaking his skull slowly, he turned from the two females.

    "You're welcome to stay as long as you need." Sera offered, again tilting her skull.

    "Yeah, I wouldn't advise returning to that disaster area." Nymph piped in, giving a brief yelp as Sera tossed her skull around to n** at her for such an out-of-place comment. Unaware of their comments Orion proceeded to slowly approach a brook crawling along a few yards away, his gait swaying injured-like. He sat, nearly tripping, at the bank of the brook, groaning to the ailment that had found a home inside of his head. Thankfully, he'd experienced head injuries before, and the pain he was enduring would diminish within the next day or so.

    Carefully, he overlooked himself, almost disbelieving that his head injury could be the worst of what he'd endured. But, sure enough, his rich chocolate fur was not in many places interrupted with wounds, besides the previous scars and battle nicks from ages passed. Although his bold emerald eyes appeared to be still hazed, the golden markings crawling from his nose and around his eyes still created a vibrant expression, only adding on to his already-handsome features of a round head and a broad mug. The deep, moss green color brindling his fur shone brightly in the morning's sunlight, highlighting his robust limbs and emphasizing his towering height.

    "So what happened to you, kid?" A deep, sympathy-lacking tone barked from behind him, a shadow cast upon Orion's figure. His golden-tipped ears only perked to the voice, his bushy tail curling around his perched figure. "Looks like you and your pack got the life booted out of you." He remarked unkindly, causing Orion to glance at the male over his shoulder briefly. A large male, characterized by webs of muscle and a charcoal pelt on a first glance, was the beholder of this voice.

    "Had you watched?" Orion remarked coldly, fin ally standing and turning his body to face the opposing male. He could now make out deep, sapphire eyes, his spine draped in the same royal-like coloring that faded into the rest of his pelt. His tail remained curled over his spine, his neck arched as he locked his eyes on Orion. But Orion continued, "Had you stood there and watched as our home was destroyed?"

    If wolves had a complexion, the color would flush out of the darker male's face as his expression drooped, a deep inhale taken as he shook his skull and walked on. Orion snorted at the male's departure, his attention returning to the wolves around him. By the vib rant colors he could tell the mixture was entirely Water and Earth wolves, and he now stood watching the victims and the saviors. Orion's gaze fell upon one in particular, in which heightened interest burned within his wild green eyes. The focus was on a male draped over the back over another, the body dangling almost lifelessly.

    "No.." Orion whispered under his breath, his figure nearly frozen in its place.