Farewell for now
“Everyone, keep up!” Darius called, and Luz realized the wild werewolves were indeed following her.
hunter was running, too, and he quickly caught up with luz. “I wonder what the boss is like?” she wondered aloud. Hunter didn’t reply, keeping his gaze trained on the howling leader…..no two different howls were heard.
everyone pushed themselves to reach their base before the signals ceased. When at last they reached the base, a large outcropping of rocks, Eberwolf grimaced. “This is bad. All the other platoons are already here…”
sapphire stopped beside him. “Oh, no… Are we really the last ones here?”
“Let’s just go.” Darius sighed, leading them all down into the outcrop.
“That Darius guy’s amazing, isn’t he?” Luz asked.
hunter harrumphed, licking his chops. “He’s just a platoon leader. Big deal. He’s still no match for me.”
luz rolled her eyes. “Still saying that?”
As they went to join the others, a red wolf standing just below the leader’s perch snarled. “You’re late, Platoons One, Two, and Three! Have you forgotten the rules? Step forward!”
The platoon leaders’ previous bravery seemed to melt away as they sheepishly hung back in the crowd.
“What’s wrong? Can’t you hear me?!” the red wolf demanded.
As the leaders slunk forward, darius was the first to lift his head. “I take full responsibility for the delay, General nook.”
“Hey!” Sapphire hissed in his direction, clearly not liking that he so quickly took the blame. “Darius, you-”
“We had to fight a bear for the sake of two wolves.” Darius continued. “My commands delayed Platoons Two and Three.”
“I won’t listen to your pathetic apologies.” Nook growled. “Don’t make excuses!”
“And who are you?” Nook asked. “Why are you here?”
“I brought them here, General nook.” Darius explained. “These are the two dogs who were fighting one of belos’s bear soldiers.”
nook’s eyebrows raised at that, his interest clearly piqued. “Is that so?”
“General, I saw them fighting as dogs capable of surviving this war.” Darius stated.
A murmur fell over the crowd of werewolves , but Luz didn’t pay attention, for just above her , the lead wolf features finally became clear in the moonlight. Standing before her was a large, battle-scar brown wolf , with striking dark brown eyes she shared and beside him was the same female silver wolf with golden eyes that appeared before./p>
luz’s small paws moved before her mind. She leapt up onto the tall rock, landing beside nook. “What on Earth do you think you’re doing bitch?!” He demanded.
luz’s heart pounded in her ears as her eyes met the similar eyes of the two leaders. “Just as I thought…” she gasped. “It’s my father and mother!”
“What?!” Hunter yelped. This guy is your father!? I thought you were joking before!”
“What did you just say, Chibi?!” Darius asked, bewildered.
With no further warning besides an angry growl, nook barreled into luz , sending them both tumbling off the rock. They both landed on their paws at the bottom, facing each other. “What was that for?!” Luz snarled.
“Mind your tone, you impolite piece of crap.” Nook spat, advancing on luz. “What did you say about our bosses just now?! I’ll rip you apart!” With that, he pounced, but Luz jumped out of the way, pushing off of the rock to land facing him again. Luz bared her fangs, daring nook to attack again. He stood tall, growling. “You won’t be so lucky this time…”
“Stop!” a strong bark from above suddenly interrupted them. Luz whirled, realizing the leader had spoken. “Nook, you can stop now.”
“But, Boss!”
“What Darius said is true. My daughter luz, may be small, but she’s a fully capable fighter.” the large wolf explained coolly, staring right down at luz with a smile. _____________________________________________ “But wouldn’t a male heir be better?” Nook panicked. _____________________________________________ “We have no male heir and if you have a problem with my daughter, you can fight me!” Eda reported. Nook instantly got quiet.
“Everyone, listen to me.” Oswald barked, getting everyone’s attention. “You are all aware of what’s happening in demon Pass, belos’s territory. We can’t even set foot on those mountains anymore. That fake wolf is increasing his numbers by forcing other monsters to obey him. We’ve already gathered many fighters from this area to invade his stronghold, but our current numbers aren’t enough to get the job done! However, there’s a whole world out there, full of soldiers we can recruit. Thus, I’m giving you all three months to find them. Please, gather fighters from all over the country!
( Cheers)
Eda continues the message. “We will gather here under the full moon, three months from today! Be ready to depart tomorrow morning! Do not be late. When that day comes, the war with belos will begin!”
After those orders were given, the pack was dismissed for bed except for three who stayed up most of the night talking.
Luz collapsed at the edge of a rushing stream, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Eda and Oswald helping her learn about tracking, strength , defense and speed while Eda helped with magic lessons for the past few of hours, luz needed a break. She lapped up the cool water quickly, her fluffy tail wagging rapidly.
After a refreshing drink, luz shook out her pelt, lying down on the river bank, panting. Oswald, who was watching the scene from the forest shade, couldn't help but smile sympathetically.
"It seems I may have overworked you little one," he admitted. "My apologies."
"I-It's ok, dad," Luz reassured, smiling back. "It was a lot of fun tracking, even if some of the smells made me kind hungry..."
"Haha," chuckled he softly. "Well, you won't have to worry about being hungry anymore, but I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through. I know I don’t have an excuse, I just didn’t want to you to have an unhappy childhood like me and have to fight for survival.
“Grandpa was a wild lupus wolf wasn’t he?”
“Yes and he was killed by humans before he could show me any survivor skills.” He replied sadly. “It was just me a 3 year old and my mother learning the hard way….I wanted to convince her to put me in human school, but She died when I was 9 years old due to a poison illness.”
But years later you met mother?
Yes and I wasn’t alone anymore.
_____________________________________________
__________
while everyone was asleep, luz and hunter came to the quiet decision to go say goodbye, and be back to the pack in time for departure the next morning. They silently walked among the sleeping wolves , before stopping next to Darius , who slept close to Eberwolf.
“hey…darius .” Luz whispered. “Wake up! I need to talk to you. Darius!”
The purple wolf didn’t stir, continuing to sleep with his eyes closed peacefully.
“Man, he didn’t even budge. He must be really tired.” Luz muttered.
“Just forget it, luz. We need to hurry.” Hunter urged. “Dawn is coming.”
she nodded. “Sorry, Darius. I have to go, but I’ll definitely return someday!”
“Let’s go.” Hunter whispered, taking off into the night.
“...Sure. Be careful, luz .”
The cave was dark, luz padded softly into the small cave , and gasped when she saw Oswald sleeping ,supposedly feel asleep to wait for luz’s return. Eda slept beside him.
The old man turned in his sleep, and Luz quietly stepped forward. “Luz, I’m sorry for lying to you about your heritage…” he murmured in his sleep, and Luz let out a quiet, pensive whine. He turned once more, before settling.
luz stared down at him, feeling her eyes burning with unshed tears. “Dad…!”
Something shifted nearby, and Luz looked over to see eda now sitting up and staring at her. “Luz…”
“Mother…!” She gasped, trying to formulate an explanation. “Mother, I… I’m going on a journey back to amity’s pack…they need me…... I don’t know when I’ll be back… if I’ll be back.” Her voice broke at the end of that sentence as she realized how much she was going to miss them
eda’s eyes widened in surprise and confusion. She gazed at her only daughter for a long moment, before a small, sad smile made its way onto her face. “You really are just like him.”
“Huh?”
“That look on your face… You look just like your father.”
Biting her lip, luz turned towards the entrance of the cave. She couldn’t embrace her mother, or else she feared she wouldn’t have the heart to leave her. “… I leave dad to you, okay?”
“I will.”Eda assured her, her voice thick with tears. “Off you go, then.”
luz finally released her tears, running away from the shed with a mournful howl. She ran away from the pack as fast as she could, with tears streaming down her face, and sorrow-filled howls leaving her throat as she parted with the only family she’d ever known.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At dawn, Oswald and eda roused his subordinates. The time for departure had come.
Elsewhere at the break of dawn, Suddenly, two barks rang out, and amity and her pack turned around with a bright smile to see Luz and hunter returning with fierce determination on their faces.