//------------------------------// // To Appear Healthy // Story: Applebloomed // by StormDancer //------------------------------// The Predator returned late last night, Yellow Red sprawled atop him and bound in wide white-ish leaves. Though I remained hidden, he must have sensed me since he stopped just outside the barrier. He seemed almost fearful of crossing it for some reason. Maybe he was wondering if Yellow Red's magic would keep him out since he had run off with her. But whatever it was, I couldn't tell. He rarely expressed himself other than by being frightfully large. I was preparing to come out of hiding, to try to steal my Alpha back, when he finally lowered his head and walked past. Even his stride seemed off, but he didn't slow once he was within the barrier. It has been several days since Yellow Red's return, and she has remained within the den the entire time. The other pack has been prowling relentlessly, though they still go to patrol our herd. Evil, especially, has been gauging our alpha's health, no doubt looking for further signs of weakness... yet, even in her weakened state, my alpha's magic has kept them all from attacking. Her magic is truly remarkable. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower have both continued to hunt, despite our alpha's injuries. They continue to feign ignorance of the danger her injuries pose to the pack, but I can tell they know things are becoming worse. Second is clearly concerned, though she plays it off well. The other pack doesn't seem to realize that she's changed sides. All the better for us. Even with her being small and ill, every member of the pack pulls their weight. If we didn't, we'd just become more splinters for stronger packs to consume. The time has come. Yellow Red has exerted herself again, pushing herself to assure us all that she is healthy and strong. I watched her from the sky tunnel as she stalked around the whelping den. She has wrapped her cracked root in more of those long white leaves and used a discarded vine to keep them in place. If one were to look quickly, she might even be mistaken for healthy. But I know better. I can see when she prowls that her root wants to split. She favors it, even if she doesn't want others to know. And even still, when the Predator came to test her, she bested him in a challenge of wits. The two growled and barked back and forth until Yellow Red 'assured' him that "Ah'm fine," whatever that means. Probably more of her strange and powerful magic. Even so, it seemed to take longer to affect him than it used to. Perhaps in her weakened state, her injuries are draining her magic more than she knows. I shall have to be considerably more alert, in case she overexerts herself. Even if they still think me dead, I refuse to let the pack be harmed. ... more than it already is. With the waking of the Phoenix Eye, Yellow Red tested her root and seemed to make a decision. She howled out for the other pack and within a few moments, Ambercrown had appeared. Ambercrown still seems too strong to be fully under Yellow Red's control, but despite her resistance, Yellow Red was allowed to leave the whelping den. It is strange to see the other pack acting as they are. One moment, they are growling and barking, howling and yipping challenges back and forth, and the next, they are calmly prowling the den, wandering off or rejoining as if nothing is wrong. I can't tell if they've just been under her spell so long that they don't realize how hurt she is or if she is simply that good at acting that they assume her injury to be a test of some sort. Watching my alpha is sometimes very confusing. Regardless, today she decided to resuming hunting again, and appropriately was escorted to the barrier by both Ambercrown and the Predator. Evil remained at the den, though she watched far more intently than anything her age should be able to. At the edge of our territory, Whiteflower and Dirty Sap had been waiting and, after a brief exchange of growls and barks, our pack continued on as Ambercrown and the Predator watched. They continue to be worrisome. Even while under her thrall, I could see Ambercrown straining against it, desperately wanting to follow along and hunt. And that's what it was. She WANTED to hunt. There was something that she WANTED to do, but she wasn't able to do so. She desperately wanted to do something, but something was keeping her from it and she was railing against it. I could see the tiny needles on her back rising, watched the snapping of her brush and the bitter set of her muzzle. It was plain as the leaves on her head that she wanted to hunt something but knew she wasn't allowed to and it was making her strain to stay where she'd been told. The Predator was not much better, though he hid it well. The cords of his back were tight and his massive roots ground into the dark damp through the cool green and rough brown. Still, they stayed until the pack had crested the hill before turning back towards the den. Second followed, though she looked back at me before running off with the other pack. I knew what I had to do, and so I left our territory and raced after our pack. It did not take long to find them. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower had taken up positions on either side of Yellow Red and were quietly yipping and barking back and forth. The blossom atop Yellow Red's head was looking as vibrant as ever, a clear sign that she was intending to intimidate any challengers rather than fight them outright. My alpha is clever enough to know that fighting while injured is a bad tactic. I followed from a distance, stalking as I have learned, hiding in dips or tucking myself into brush. Sometimes I simply came apart to keep them from seeing me. They have enough trouble without having to worry about taking care of me. Besides, I have been caring for the herd while Yellow Red has been injured. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower have been too busy hunting to properly cow the Unmoving. Such is our state. But at least they have taught me well enough that our pack has persisted. As the days grow shorter, I can almost feel the Creeping Cold stalking us, leading the Frozen Death in its blindness. If we do not prepare soon, we may not survive. I am glad I know where the proof of Ambercrown's treachery is, with that store, we should have enough to evade the Frozen Death. Still, I must watch them before we prepare. If we splinter and rot before the Frozen Death, it will not matter if we have food enough to last. So I follow. They prowled, slowly, for quite some time, passing sentinels of the Unmoving. Some were aging, while others spy young sprouts. Some were sleeping while others rattled their threats and warnings amid brightly tinted leaves or clamorous branches. A few of the Evergreen stood proud, too powerful to even concern themselves with out passing. The Evergreen. Somehow I knew not to threaten the Evergreen. Unmoving they may be, but their magic is immense, possibly even stronger than Yellow Red's. They stand against all things, unmoving among even the Unmoving. But here, they are few in number and seem unconcerned in our matters. Perhaps my alpha is even their master, though I doubt it. Eventually though, we came to a place of strange growths. The soft green and rough brown gave way to the hard grey and the small hards. Hiding between the soft greens and the others, littlings crawled and fled before us. Tiny pests though they may be, seeing them flee before my alpha was still satisfying. Barriers littered the ground, leaving the hard grey and small hards to pass, but keeping the soft green apart from the softer greens. My alpha cared not for them, instead following the hard grey and small hards until she came to another, smaller, den. This den was like the buds of the Unmoving in our herd. Bright with the blush of life, but caged in the color of bone. Atop it sat a frown that howled, causing my pack to run, albeit slowly, into the den with a swarm of other small packs. I nearly leapt to aid them before hearing the mix of yips and yaps that spoke not of war, but of joy and frustration. And then The Voice. At hearing The Voice, their racket fell, and into a soft howl they replied. It was a very confusing thing to hear but, the immediate danger passed, so I settled myself into the shadow of a bush, hidden in the shade of an Unmoving. For good measure, I dusted it, to remind it to whom it belonged. I'm certain my alpha will be proud. The Voice is insidious. It is soft but forceful and gentle but full of warning. When it howls, I can feel my barbs clench and my thorns catch. It is a master of what it is, whatever that is. And my alpha comes willingly to listen. My alpha is wise. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower are clever, if not wise. But when the Voice yipped the last time, the packs inside the den all howled and fled. I shook myself off and prepared for fighting, but when they darted out, it wasn't to the spilling of sap, but to tumble and play, barking and yipping the whole time. I had just settled myself back in to wait when I saw my pack emerge, Yellow Red in the front and Whiteflower at the back. A small cherry blossom wolf and a dead ash wolf approached them from behind, clearly intent on ambush, when another wolf the color of a bruised plum and the side of Ambercrown exited the den and started to wander. At seeing the larger wolf, the pink and grey wolves moved on, though not without a quite challenge to my pack. I could feel the anger in Dirty Sap, her branched buzzing in that strange way of hers before Whiteflower yipped something to her. Even so, the threat was obvious. This blossom and ash pack was hunting my alpha, and so, when the ash one went and started to yip at the plum wolf, I continued to watch the pink one. It wasn't long before I saw what they were planning. The pink one waited by a strange thing. Two grey rocks with an Unmoving corpse stuck between them, one end raised while the other left to lie on the ground. I could see other wolf pups sitting or standing upon them, pushing themselves up while their partners would fall to the ground. There were a few, but their magic was strange. Still, having seen them, I understood that when one end of the Unmoving corpse rose, the other would fall, and that if there weren't two wolves, this would happen very quickly. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to react. One moment, the Yellow Red was walking with Dirty Sap and Whiteflower, and the next she had turned to look at something. The Pink one struck, pushing Yellow Red over before jumping on the strange thing and leaping back off. The Unmoving corpse leapt into motion, a product of the Pink one's wicked magics, clipping my alpha in the head, before she fell to the ground, and then striking a telling blow once more when it came back down. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower spun at the sound, like a melon being struck with a branch, but the Pink one was already halfway across the small field. The Plum wolf spun as well, and at her barking, revealed herself to be The Voice. She raced over to Yellow Red, but did not attack. Instead, she looked around, seemingly confused. I'll bet she is, the ash wolf performed admirably. The little bitch is clever enough to distract the larger threat while her alpha strikes. I heard the barking and yapping from them all, but the pink one stayed far enough back that not a single wolf looked at her. They are a threat to my pack. Even if The Voice is some form of ally, those two are hunting my alpha. I won't let them.