the old topic!

Iceheart sighed. "I will try to the greatest of my ability, but I cannot forget them." She sat and began to lick her paw out of nerveous habit. "Okay, well I don't get how the leaders and betas and oomegas work, so could you tell me about that?"

((gahh super long post!! x_x beware ))

Koara's eyes darted every which way to see all the wolves gathering around her and her siblings. She liked the attention but could tell her sister wasn't so sure about it. She nudged her playfully with her nose and sat down next to her. " It'd be cool to be invisible. " She said absentmindedly, just barely following what Koda was doing. " Or control wind like daddy or Anaya." She said, looking to her sister then to her father next to the lake. "I don't have anything special about me." Her voice grew quiet as she finished her thoughts. Her anima cuddled up against her to try and comfort her, but couldn't find anything to say. He knew what was special about her, but he decided to leave that for her to figure out.

Keovi nodded slowly, and looked back out onto the lake. " Well try hard. Because if you don't, I know it will come in the way of you ever fitting in with a realy pack." His growl grew more serious. "I'm not sure what you were back in your old home, a 'warrior' I think you said. You no longer are that kind of wolf. You are a pack member of Goldenleaf." he faced her again, his eyes shining at the words. He felt every bit as proud as he should be, his pack was strong, with pups, and a family. his thoughts swirled on this for a moment before the voice of Kuna snapped him back. " Oh hi Kuna, Takara's in the woods across the lake, just out of sight of the grass. Hm" he paused, now trying to trace his thoughts to hers. " Aw, she lost her bird. Maybe you could go help her hunt." He suggested.

"Ok Iceheart," He said, tilting his head. " You want to really understand what I am, or what Nightwalker is to you? Or what you are?" His head tilted the other way. " In a pack, we have a.. family structure. When i was a pup, my parents were confident, strong, and true leaders. Every wolf respected them as the alphas, let them eat first and have their pick at the kill bore any other. Except the pups of course." he smiled. They were the ones to start hunts, and lead at the head of the pack to their prey. They ruled with force and a strong mind, but mostly a strong mind. " His voice grew whispy as he continued, his eyes gazing unblinking into the trees behind Iceheart.

" Hearing their voice made any wolf want to listen to them, and when they walked, you were pulled by some unseen force to follow them. Of course, some confident wolves would challenge them from time to time, vying for the respect of the pack over them. My dad was a huge wolf, and stronger than any other. I had my fair share of reprimands from him.." he growled slightly. " But the point is, a pack is held together by these wolves, the strong minded, and respected leaders. Without a strong leader at the top, without consistency, the wolves in my pack grew irritated and restless, and fights would break out. This was when my parents grew to old to lead well anymore. That was when I left." He finished, his gaze returning to normal as he focused on Iceheart again. He felt he should go on about himself as leader, but his mind was telling him no, and he didn't want to discuss it anymore. he waited for some sort of response from Iceheart before he let himself say any more.

Koara's own mind was snapped right back into her usual excited, and happy-go-lucky self once Nightwalker's anima came over. " hello Delila, " she yipped, " This is Kartal, I'm Koara!" She introduced herself and her anima. It took her a moment to realize she had said her animas name, like something inside her just knew it without anyone ever telling her. Kartal looked up to her and smiled. She suddenly yawned, and felt her stomache rumble. " I'm hungry." She whimpered. She looked around for her mother but didn't see her, so padded over to Kia instead. She sat down in front of her and simply looked up at her with begging eyes. Kartal followed behind a little more slowly, tired from all the excitement.

Kia tilted her head and looked down at the pup in front of her. "Umm.. hungry?" she asked, biding time. She looked around but couldn't find Mudpelt, and it seemed Keovi was busy. "I could go and catch something for you... if Keovi says I can," she said, gazing down at the pup again. Instead, Zio scurried off her head and changed into a cat right then. "I'll ask," he called. Kia was about to yell after him but he was too far gone. Zio, Keovi looks busy, she warned. Don't worry, he won't mind if Koara is hungry, he replied. Zio stood a respectful distance away from the alpha, but looked up at him. "Koara said she was hungry and Kia was wondering if she could go hunt for her," he reported.

Kia sighed and looked down at the pup once more. Again, that same ache in the back of her head started up again, but she did her best to push it away. "You've never had a rabbit before, have you?" she asked, a slight grin on her face.

Koda grinned at his mother, thinking of one day going hunting side by side. He sat up from his laying position and looked over at his sister. "Wouldn't it be great to hunt or fight beside our father?" he asked Anaya and then wagged his tail. His anima crept over to hers as if also talkative.

Koda liked the idea of fighting for his pack's safety. He could feel brave and proud. He stood up and felt a energy rush go through his body. His paws were itching to start practicing hunting and fighting moves with his sisters.

Anaya felt comforted when her sister relized she was axious. She sent a silent thanks to Koara. As her sister voiced her hunger, Anaya felt the pangs to. She looked to her anima and she could tell he was hungry too.
Anaya turned to Koad.
" I don't want to fight, but hunting might be fun," Anaya said. The thought of hurting another instantly repelled her. Hunting though entrigued her. She could find out what the rest of the forest looked like!

"Okay, the leaders are the top, I knew that, but it was different back-" Iceheart stopped herself "There"

The sightless vixxen felt the heat of his gaze, and fidgeted a bit before asking "What about betas and omegas? How do they fit into the family structure?" Her eyes were beginning to become cloudy and would soon be pure white.

Kyota was miffed at being ignored. He tried again, this time padding up to Anaya. "Do you want to play? I'm Iceheart's anima. My name is Kyota, but you can call me Ky."

Anaya was startled as another anima walked up to her. But she soon regained her composure. She looked for her anima and found him by her side.
" Sure. I'm Anaya and this is.....," Anaya found she didn't know her anima's name. She dug deep into her mind and then a thought reached it. ' My names Briss,' She heard her anima think. She smiled at Briss.
" His name is Briss. What would you like to play," Anaya asked thoughtfullly.

Kuna followed Takara's scent trail to the woods down by the lake. he couldn't see her though so he decided to call for her.
" Takara, where are you? Its, me, Kuna," Kuna called.

"Well, what do you want to play? You have the choice." Kyota said thoughtfully.
He shifted into a guinea pig to help make it fair. He was still white with blue eyes. He squeaked with the cold, and changed into a rabbit with long fur.

"Rabbit? no." she said, perking her tiny ears curiously. Kartal rested his paws beside her, listening to Kia hungrily. 'Do you think I could catch a rabbit?' Koara asked him. 'Uh well.. not really. You barely can walk a few steps from the den, you cant go hunting any time soon so dont get ideas.' He warned her, but his voice was tinged with laughter. Her eyes narrowed and she nudged him playfully with a paw.

Keovi smiled as he noticed Iceheart had caught herself. " Well okay. What we call betas are more or less the wolves in a pack the alpha most trust to take over alpha duties when they are not there. You cannot be assigned this like you may think. It more like a... " He paused, thinking of the right word. " Like your status, mentally. Weak wolves cannot be held in high positions. " he said, his tone suddenly turning much more serious. " If you are weak, you get treated like an omega, therefore you are an omega. Iceheart, Don't think I havn't noticed that not being held highly in our pack has troubled you. You have said to me before that you were going to be appointed.. deputy, was it? Well unless you can get a grip on your unstable state of mind right now, that kind of respect won't come easily to you. " He said, his amber gaze softening. " I hope you can start seeing that this is a fresh start for you, and just because your blind now, doesn't mean that your any different from the other wolves with your spirit. Your no omega, Iceheart, but your no Beta either. If another wolf sees how your havng trouble with your past, they may take advantage of you." keovi growled, but softly. " Now I'm done discussing this. If you feel you aren't as knowledgeable with the ways of the pack, then just pay attention to the others around you, you can learn from them too." He got to his paws just as Kia's anima padded over.

" Oh, hi Zio. They're hungry already?" He sighed. " Well I'll get them into the den with Mudpelt, they can all rest for a while, they've been outside enough for pups their age." he smiled, padding towards the dens with his tail wavin gbehind him in contempt. " Common pups, time to go back into the den." He nudged Koara with his nose. " Let's go, Anaya, Koda, you guys too. " Koara smiled sleeply up at her father as he walked by. She obediantly got to her paws and made her way towards the den. Kartal followed after, hesitating at the entrance to wait for Koara's siblings. Koara was already inside, wobbling through the bedding over to her mother. " I'm hungry." She whined, prodding her with a paw to get her up.

Across the lake, Takara was grooming the fur at the base of her tail when her ears pricked at a voice. She appeared from behind the huge tree and her eyes brighteneed when she saw Kuna. " Kuna! I'm over here." She bounded over to meet him though, tackling him once she got there. " It was getting lonely over here." She mumbled as she began to groom his fur as well. But the bird came back into her mind and she shot to her paws. " I missed that stupid bird, it just dissapeared once it came into therse trees, and I'm hungry, I bet everyone back at the clearing are too." She flicked her paw to release it of some leafy mud from under the snow. " I don't even want to think about going into that ice cold water for fish now. " she huffed, liking a patch of damped fur from the snow.

Kia smiled down at the pup and opened her jaws to speak, but was interrupted by Keovi. She got to her paws and said her last good-byes to Koara before Zio met her. Now that the pups were gone, the burning in the back ov her head dulled, but it was still there, reminding her every second that she would never be as lucky as these pups. Kia sighed and turned to retreat to her den, but stopped herself and glanced at Nightwalker. She hadn't spoken to him since she got back with Iceheart and it seemed he was feeling much better. She smiled and walked up to him, her tail waving slightly. "It looks like your feeling better," she said happily, directing the stantement to both him and Delila.

Zio, not appreciating the slushy snow underpaw, shivered and scrambled up atop Kia's head, transforming into a mouse as he did. He did this often, and Kia teased him about it constantly.

Nightwalker stood up as Keovi led the pups back into their then they reminded him so much of his brothers and sisters. he wondered how they all were doing. he no longer liked his parents so he didn't care too much about them but his sisters and brothers never treated him differently. his ears twitched when he heard Kia speak to him, "yeah i'm feeling a lot better i even got me sense of smell back. oh Kia if you don't mind i could i go back to sleeping the den with you i can't take the scents of the herbs in Iceheart's den."

Kia grinned and nodded, though she knew he couldn't see the gesture. "I'm glad, and yeah, I was about to head in for another nap myself. I hadn't had a very good night last night, and the pups woke me up." She turned and retreated to her den under the tree at the edge of the clearing. She ducked to enter it and dodged the tree roots on her way to the back. Once she was there, she lay down and curled into a tight ball on the cold ground. The tree roots provided some protection from the cold breeze blowing in the entrance, but it was still chilly. Zio hopped off his partner's head and snuggled down deep in her warm brown fur. They both knew that Kia would probably always suffer from her nightmares and never get a decent sleep, but she could use one now.

"mind if i join you i didn't get as much sleep as i wanted" Nightwalker said as he began to follow Kia into the den. the scents in Icehearts den woke him earlyer then what he would have, Delila stay out here and wake me when Keovi is ready to go out on a hunt. Delila nodded her head and watched as he entered the den after Kia. Nightwalker slowly made his way into the den, his fur scratching against the roots along the walls. Kia'a breathing and her scent let him know where she was laying, he land himself down next to her and closed his eyes. he felt something odd while he was laying down next to her it was hard to explain what the feeling was. if felt scared and sad, he wasn't sure where the feeling was coming from.

Nightwalker had only felt this once before when he was first abandoned when he was pup. he was so scared of being alone away from his family and was sad that his family just left him alone then after being alone for a while all of his sadness and fear turned to anger he felt like he was reliving his past. he couldn't understand where these feelings were coming from he had at accepted his past and moved on. maybe these feelings were not his own, maybe he was just caught up in someone's emotion.

(Iceheart buried all the herbs for Nightwalker, remember?)

Iceheart stayed sitting as she thought about her lessons."Betas are like deputies." She slowly wagged her brush. "Omegas are like the weaker warriors. I'm in between, but since I'm blind, I can't be deputy." She came to the realization sadly, and her ears flattened, and her posture drooped. "Well I have to be happy. I have a better life then some."


The vixxen stood up and began to walk back with a spring in her step. She never saw it coming. She put her left hind paw in a rabbit hole, but she took no notice. She fell flat and heard a sickening crunch. Iceheart gasped at the pain, and knew it was sprained, maybe broken. The only joy she had was that she couldn't look at her mangled leg. She let out a howl and hoped for help to arrive.

Kyota was sad because Keovi took away his playmate. He turned to run up to Keovi, shifting to cat to do so. He ran across the cam. The tom suddenly felt pain, and floundered into the deep snow "Owwwwwwww" Kyota yowled, as he struggled to his feet. The tom knew that Iceheart had broken her leg. "save Iceheart" he gasped to Keovi, who was standing before him, even though he knew it'd be virtually impossible to find a white wolf in winter.. Once more he sank down into the powdery snow, trying to fight the overwhelming blackness, and rapidly shifting shape. He failed, and his body lay there as a ermine, his black-tipped tail twitching once.

Keovi stood outside Mudpelt's den, keeping an eye on the pups before he turned on his paws to go move the rotting carcass of the elk. He was mid step when he heard an unearthly noise, and with ears perked, his eyes shot towards movement on the ground. His paws hit the ground again as a wave of shock pulsed through him, and in a flash the black and golden brown wolf was next to the twisting body of the ermine, Kyota. " Ky, what- are you okay?" Keovi's worried voice whispered. His paw lifted to roll him over gently to face him. His mind raced once he saw the look of pain in the anima's eyes. He said Iceheart! He remembered once he first heard him before he collapsed. Lifting his head once more, his muzzle swang side to side in search of Iceheart in the clearing, but with gritted teeth he remembered he left her by the lake. He looked down on the anima one last time before his head lifted to the trees again, through which he could see the lake's now shimmering surface. He bolted, not botheringto alert the others before he saw what was going on. His paws crunched through the patches of snow still littering the ground, to the splash of muddy earth, dirtying his paws. His pace slowed to a trot as he reach the edge of the lake, with some half-frozen earth slipping into the cold water when his paw drew to close to the edge. He stopped there, his breath hanging in the air as he slowly searched the ground for the white vixen. His tail hung limp behind him as his spirits sank for a second, but suddenly started wagging once he heard her howl only yards away
" Iceheart, what happened?" he intrigued, sniffing at her fur for scent of blood. His jaws hung open, breathing in the frosty air around her to help detect any slight thing out of sorts.

Hearing Keovi, Iceheart managed to just fight off the blackness to raise her head and pant "I fell. I broke my leg. Need help." before falling back to the snow. Keovi was here. Everything would be okay. The vixxen struggled out of the rabbit hole, and lay there, her white eyes showing no emotion, gasping for air.


After a bit, she tried to sit up and nose her paw with her snowy maw. Iceheart winced and let out a yelp. "We need to get me back to the camp. Kyota can probably do it."

Kyota felt the blackness lighten up, and he struggled to his paws. He shook his pelt, and transformed into a lynx. Wincing a bit as he limped, he manged to travel to Iceheart and Keovi. "We must drag her back." were the only words he meowed.

Iceheart winced every time Kyota set his paw down. She struggled to her three good paws and choke "Lets go. We're going to need your help Keovi.""

Kyota rushed to her side and supported her. They began to limp back to camp. Night was falling, and it would get to cold for even Iceheart to be out.

Koda shivered and looked around. He had been napping in the warmth of sunlight and the night's chill had awoken him. He curled his tail over his nose for warmth. Wouldn't it be great to look for stars later tonight? he asked his anima. Sure, she answered doubtfully. Koda could tell that something was bothering her. He frowned with curiousity. Her thoughts echoed in his mind.

Of course, he answered her question before it was asked. She smiled sweetly for the first time and he gazed at her, trying to think. Gwin? he asked with his eyebrows raised but a grin portrayed on his face. Gwin answered with a sweek of happiness. Koda could tell that she was freezing with her thin fur and so he walked with her to his mother's den.

When Iceheart and Kyota were almost there, they stopped to rest. Iceheart gasped "Go get help" She was flopped on the ground, and the stars were out. She began to sleep, but Kyota wouldn't let her. "Go to sleep now, and we are dead." He pulled her up, and they began their slow walk back to camp. The vixxen gave a yip of joy when they approached camp. Together they walked in and Iceheart sank to the ground, clearly in pain.

Kyota let himself curl up at her side as his usual cat. Then the tom jumped up, and landed neatly on three legs. He dug up the herbs Iceheart had buried, and ate the mix that would make her strong, and let her sleep. Then they lay in the middle of the clearing, shivering, and hoping for help, or they would die of the cold. "Anyone, help!" They called. They were too exhausted to try more.

After a little romp Snowest went to her den and went to sleep. (Shes been asleep all this time that i was gone)

(what about Ice? She's in the middle of the clearing! With a broken leg!)

(My new post happened right after this post---->

Quote :

Snowest awoke in a world of whiteness. For a moment her groggy mind wondered, "Have I gone blind?" Slowly she stood up, the snow and slush sliding of her slick pelt. The first thing she saw was the rotting carcess. Jumping backwards with a start of surprize she hit Jack. They fell down together in a heap. "Good morning." Jack thought to Snowest.

)

(uhhh...... I'm confused)

(Snowest has been asleep all this time, she went to sleep before Iceheart got back.)

(I'm also confused and i can edit my post if I need to.)

Koda looked up at the sound of a cry for help. He ears twitched, trying to decide if he really heard it, or if it was his imagination. Gwin looked up also, yelping at the other anima's call. Koda tossed Gwin on his back and rushed into his mother's den.

"Mother!" he chroked, "I heard a call for help." Gwin teetered on her heels, trying to regain balence on his back. Koda nuzzled her back into place. He hoped that his instincts were true and that he wasn't causing a ruckess for nothing.

Kia's dreams were relitavely good until her ear twitched at the call for help. She jerked awake and her eyes widened in the darkness. She jumped up and dashed out the den, leaving Zio confused. He hadn't heard the call. He ran out of the den anyway, leaping over the sleeping Nightwalker. Once Kia reached the white wolf, her eyes, if possible, widened more. "Iceheart, what's wrong?" she asked, searching her for signs of attack. She nudged the white female in hopes of helping her to her feet. Zio, now realising what had shaken Kia, dashed to the white wolf's other side and transformed into a stronger lynx. He nudged that side also. "Lean on me when you need to," he said.