• Published 21st Dec 2018
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A Timberwolf For Forrester - Schattendrache



Timberwolves are seen as vicious killers by many creatures all over Equis. But what if they were wrong in their assumptions?

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The Story of Splinter: Wild (Revised)

-The Story of Splinter-

Wild

Splinter had grown to appreciate the concealing mist of the forest in the last few years. As a pup, he was never able to see very far since the water in the air always muddled his sight. But now that he was older he could see over the mist that hugged the ground during the night and early morning. He would always be greeted by a peaceful world of white and trees whenever he woke from his nightly rest. The fact that it would also conceal his form when he hunted didn’t hurt either.

As it so happened, he was doing just that this very morning. A young buck, barely into his first season of rut, had made its way into his pack’s territory, and he would be the one to kill it. He would move swiftly whenever he heard the buck move to a new location, and would lie down as still as he could when he saw it stop to eat. He had been doing this for long enough that he was now close enough that the next time it moved he would be able to kill it before it realized he was there.

If he could return to the pack with such a large catch, there was no doubt he would earn the pack’s admiration. The buck had just stopped mere moments ago and he was preparing his strike. He flexed his claws and shifted his weight to his back legs. As soon as it began to move again, it was his.

“Hello, Splinter. You on the hunt?”

The feminine voice of another timberwolf broke the silence of the forest behind Splinter and to his right. It wasn’t a yell, but it certainly wasn’t a whisper. The buck immediately took off at the sound of a timberwolf’s barks. Splinter, being stunned by the sudden presence of another timberwolf, was too shocked to realize what had happened until it was too late. The buck was out of sight and he was without a hunting party.

He was furious.

Splinter turned to face the timberwolf that had ruined his hunt, teeth bared and a growl in his throat. When he saw who it was, his anger subsided only a small amount. It was a member of his pack, Mist Coat, the alpha’s daughter, trotting over to him and grinning as if nothing was wrong.

“Just why in the name of Medeina did you ruin my hunt?” Splinter barked with enmity. “If you would have just stayed quiet I would have had it!”

Mist Coat simply chuffed and responded with an air of self-satisfaction, “Our pack ate yesterday, Splinter, it’s not like we’re starving.” Mist Coat sat down when she reached one length in front of him. “So tell me. What’s got you foaming at the mouth?”

“I… needed that kill.” Splinter sat back on his haunches, his tail between his legs and his head down.

“Oh really now?” Mist Coat said, her tone one of joyously false bemusement. “If I recall correctly I saw you yesterday having your fair share of the elk, or was that some other timberwolf that just so happens to smell just like you?”

“It’s not like that. I wanted to bring back a deer I hunted myself to impress your mother. If she was pleased, I might have been able to claim a mate and father a pup.”

It was one of the rules the pack had regarding acquiring a mate. During each mating season, only a select amount of the pack was allowed to bear young. Each year, the alpha of the pack would give a Gertorian seed to a few members of the pack to allow them to reproduce. Without the seed, any mating was simply for pleasure and would not result in offspring. These seeds would only be used to help replenish the pack's numbers, to replace those they lost. As per tradition, if an unmated member of the pack was found to have proven themselves of value, they could claim a mate and a seed that year. This was the only way one could acquire a mate. This year only five seeds would be given.

If he was able to bring back the buck, being unmated, he would have rights to the first bite and claim to the organs. If he took the organs, he would signal that he was ready to take a mate. But better yet, it would prove to the alpha he was worthy of siring offspring. This was the second year he would be allowed to try to find a mate. He only had one cycle of the moon before the mating season to prove himself.

“Is that so?” Mist Coat’s question seemed to be out of genuine curiosity, her arrogant tone from earlier having disappeared. “Tell me, what claim did my mother say you had on declaring a mate?”

“I am fifth.”

While the unmated were given first access to the seeds, only the top two could be guaranteed a seed. The alpha told him he was only the fifth most valued unmated of the pack. Unless he was able to impress the alpha greatly, there was no possibility he would find a mate this year.

“I'm curious, just who are the two most valued members this year?”

Splinter raised and cocked his head to the right, looking at her with complete bewilderment. “You are the first and Pith is second. How could you of all timberwolves not know?”

“Why would I ever be so high? I'm just a simple member of the pack, I'm not that special,” she said, feigning ignorance but making it terribly obvious she was fully aware of why she was the most valued unmated.

Mist Coat had been deemed worthy of taking a mate for the last three years. This was an impressive accomplishment as the first year she had been deemed worthy had also been the first year she could take a mate, something previously unheard of in the pack. However, each year she had refused to signal that she was ready to take a mate, saying she was waiting for the right one.

“I have to ask though, if you had caught that buck and received my mother’s blessing, who would you have asked to be your mate?” A smile worked itself onto Mist Coat’s muzzle while her voice became rather suggestive.

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter anyway. You’d probably laugh at me. Just forget it.”

Splinter got up and started to head back to where the pack had been this morning. Before he could get far though, Mist coat stood up and walked into his path, blocking him.

“Oh no you don’t. You were ready to fight me after that buck ran away. You wouldn’t do that over some silly piece of tail. I’m not going to let you leave until you tell me just who is worth all this trouble.” A smile still adorned her muzzle.

“If you really must know,” Splinter said, lowering his head before quietly continuing, “I was going to ask you.”

Splinter knew she was well above his status in the pack. She was one of the larger members of the pack, being taller than him by about a paw. While he had yet to have a successful hunt of large prey by himself, she had been able to claim three such hunts. She was also considered to be one of the more attractive females, having a coat almost as blue as the skies above the forest on an early morning. To make things worse, she was his senior by one year, and the daughter of the alpha.

He on the other paw was an un-noteworthy male, not good enough to receive recognition but not so bad as to be the pack’s omega. All things considered, he had a higher chance of taking down a full-grown stag by himself than he did of securing her as his mate.

“Were you?” The smile on Mist Coat only grew wider. “And what made you think you needed to hunt a buck to be my mate?”

“Are you serious?” Splinter was looking at her like she proposed they stop eating meat. “If I can’t prove myself as a good mate, how could you ever accept me?”

Mist Coat simply moved over to him and began rubbing her muzzle along his left cheek. “Who said I would have said no? It’s not like I haven’t noticed how you’ve been trying to court me, it’s actually been kind of cute.”

Splinter pulled away and sighed. “You don't have to be nice. I know you’re set to mate with Pith, at least that’s what your mom wants you to do.”

“I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you. My mom might be the alpha, but I’m still my own timberwolf. I just so happen to have a timberwolf that I’ve had my eyes on for the last three years, and seeing as I recently learned that the two of us are ready and we feel the same about each other, I figured this would be the year I finally mated.”

Splinter chuffed. “And who, might I ask, will you be taking if it isn’t Pith?”

Mist Coat simply chuckled. “Oh I can't tell you that yet, it would ruin the surprise I have planned. What I can tell you though is that you probably know him better than any other timberwolf in the pack.”

Before he could fully come to grips with what he had just heard, Mist Coat stood back up and walked right by him. As she did, she rubbed up against him, flicking her tail over his muzzle. When he inhaled he could smell her scent. She had a similar wooden scent that all timberwolves possessed but mixed in was the lovely feminine scent only she had. It reminded him of the red flowers the pack would find when they hunted in the territory of the strange colorful deer, mixed with the scent of the forest air just after the first rains of spring. It was a lovely scent he could spend hours with without losing interest.

But as soon as she indulged him in her scent she took it away, continuing to walk past him before circling back around and heading back to the pack. Before she made it too far though, she turned to face him with a warm smile on her muzzle.

“If it really means that much to you though, I think I can help you find and kill that buck again. It’s the least I can do after what I did. Just make sure you keep it between us that I helped you out,” she said before continuing on.

He was about to get up himself and follow her until she once again turned to face him.

“Oh, one last thing. I noticed that your scent marking smelled a little weak today. I’ll mark over it to make sure the other packs remember this is our territory. Make sure next time you mark our territory you get a good coverage and a strong smell. I can’t always be covering for you, now can I?” A devilish smirk formed across her muzzle before she continued her trot back, this time with her tail straight back and wagging.

Splinter cocked his head in confusion at what he had just heard. He had never been told his scent markings had been weak before, but maybe he just hadn’t been eating right. At least Mist Coat had caught the problem before her mother did. If she found out his markings were weak he didn’t even want to think what would happen.


In the town of Fetlock, a town bordering the eastern edge of the Foggy Forest, a group of three stallions and one mare by the names of Perfect Match, Dasher, Black Diamond, and Candy Cane had come together to finally put a stop to it all. The town had been harassed by Timberwolves for far too long, and the damage they had been able to cause over the years was not insignificant.

Perfect Match had seen so many of the pets that he had sold get taken away from their loving families. Dasher had to work overtime by scouting the forest before the sun went down to see if any timberwolves were in the area and might come to town. So many residents of the town and those that would visit were afraid to be out at night. Black Diamond could no longer hold overnight expeditions, threatening his livelihood. And finally, due to the fact that Candy Cane owned a sweets shop, timberwolves invariably tried to get in there whenever they came into town.

The four of them had come together when they learned that each of them desperately desired the same thing: the elimination of the timberwolves. They spent the last month planning just what they would do to accomplish this end. Since none of them had the skills necessary to hunt and kill the timberwolves in the forest, they decided that they should hire griffins to do the job. They would have to hire them discreetly though, because if Forrester were ever to find out, there was nothing they could do to stop him from trying to get one of the princesses on his side. Each of them respected the alicorns that ruled, they just felt that sometimes their mercy bordered on excessive.

And so, with the sending of a single letter, their plan was put into motion.

Three weeks later

It had taken some weeks for the griffin hunters to arrive in Fetlock. They responded to the letter the four ponies sent fairly quickly and told them to give them as much information as they could on the forest. They sent back everything they could find that they thought would be relevant, along with instructions to meet just outside of town in a natural cave.

Three griffins arrived twelve days following the sending of the second letter. They arrived via flight carrying a significant amount of supplies in the form of large wooden boxes and rucksacks. The three introduced themselves as Razor Beak, Stone Claw, and Garshasp, the leader. They had been confused at first why they needed to stay away from the town and why they had been asked to meet in secret, but after hearing the explanation they understood.

Some pegasus with a stick lodged so far up his rear you could see it whenever he opened his mouth was trying to defend the timberwolves from the town’s wrath. If he were to catch wind of what they had planned there was no telling what the end result would be. He had already been able to quash most of the town’s animosity towards the wooden beasts.

Too bad for him his efforts would be in vain.

“So boss, how much do you think we’re gonna make on this little job?” Stone Claw said over his shoulder. He was in the process of checking the various traps they brought to make sure nothing went wrong on their hunt tomorrow. They had gone over the information they had been given and had spent the last four days getting the lay of the forest and what it would take to hunt the timberwolves.

“Well, we get fifty bits up front and on completion, with an extra fifty for every ten beasts we manage to nail. I say each of us goes back at least a hundred bits better off. If Razor Beak’s right about the density of the damn things,” Garshasp stated with a wry grin towards the ancient griffin.

A growl came from the corner of the cave where Razor Beak was looking over the layout they made of the forest. He had gone over what little had been recorded of the forest and had drawn his own topographical map. He had colored several sections indicating possible hunting grounds and potential angles of attack.

“I don’t know why these ponies hired us in the first place. It’s not like the these things are all that hard to kill,” Stone Claw started up again, turning to face Garshasp. “All you need to do is get them to break up and nullify the magic in their heads. It’s almost insulting how easy this is.”

“I know, Stone. But this was the highest paying job with the least amount of risk. We could also get it done faster than most of the other requests we got. I don’t know about you, but I could use some rest,” Garshasp stated before stretching out his back and wings.

“Oh, looking to get in some relaxation time, are we? Would I be wrong in assuming you took this job so you could get back to seeing that hen you’ve been dating?” A smirk worked its way onto Stone Claw’s beak before he continued. “Or have you finally stopped lying to yourself and come to admit you’re a pillow biter?”

Garshasp just rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yes, I’m still dating Giselle. Me and her have a date at the end of the month, so this job was just too good to pass up.”

“Dang, and here I was thinking you’d finally come to your senses. I’m telling you man, you should have just found yourself a good eagle. You could’ve got bent like we all know you want to and the two of us wouldn’t have to find ourselves a new boss.”

Garshasp had been dating Giselle for the last few years and was planning to eventually settle down with her. The only issue that came with that was Garshasp’s career. When he told her that he was part of a freelance hunting crew that was hired to deal with the dangerous beasts of the world, she told him she still loved him but if they ever wanted to become something more he would need to retire. He understood and accepted her condition. It wouldn’t be fair to marry her and constantly be away, fighting some dangerous creature that could kill him.

Afterwards he told Stone Claw and Razor Beak he had found himself a hen and was going to be retiring. They were happy for him but nonetheless ticked that he was going to be leaving. Griffins like him that had a talent for staying cool under pressure and were natural tacticians were hard to come by, so replacing him was going to be a nightmare.

Since then, Stone Claw had been giving him a little more shit than usual. The jabs at his sexuality were just Stone’s way of trying to convince him to stay. Since this was more than likely going to be his last job with the two of them he might as well engage in the banter himself.

“Well maybe you could help me come to my senses then. Show me what a good eagle is like,” Garshasp teased in the sultriest voice he could while putting on a seductive face, turning around and lifting his tail before continuing, “maybe see if I prefer being the eagle or the hen.”

Stone and Garshasp both burst into laughter. Despite how serious their job was, and the fact that both of them were well into adulthood, they still possessed the social maturity of university freshmen when they didn’t need to look like professionals. Razor just grumbled. If the two of them weren’t so good at their jobs he would have left a long time ago. However, despite all his faults, Razor respected Garshasp. He could think of few that he would trust his life to and even fewer that he would rather work with.


It was almost the mating season for the pack, more specifically tomorrow morning would be his last chance to impress Mist Coat enough that she would accept him and they could officially be mates, but he had his doubts. He had still been unable to make his own kill on a deer. True to her word, after three days Mist Coat helped him find and kill the deer that had gotten away. When he brought it back to the pack they were skeptical at first but Mist Coat had vouched for him. She told the pack that she had silently followed him when she saw him apparently leaving for no reason and watched as he made the kill. While some of the pack were still skeptical, none of them wished to insult her by saying she lied.

In truth, she had helped him in the hunt. He had approached the buck the same way he had done before, almost getting as close as he had the first time, when he stepped on a stick and alerted the buck. The buck took off at the sound, still wary after its first experience in their territory. Mist Coat, who had silently been working her way in front of the buck, leapt at it and bit into one of its hind legs before pulling it to the ground. Splinter seized the opportunity and bit into the buck’s neck, clamping down on the throat and shaking until it died.

When Mist Coat’s mother asked him if he wished to claim the organs he could not have told her yes quicker. She simply smiled at him and allowed him the first bite before her and the rest of the pack descended on his kill, eating away the flesh and allowing him access to what he claimed. When he was finally able to partake in those succulent entrails, Mist Coat’s mom informed him he had advanced and would now be third to claim a mate.

After he had finished consuming his share, Mist Coat saw an opening and took it. “Mom. I wish to take a mate this year.”

“If that is what you wish, you can return here with a sizable kill and claim the entrails for yourself, as is tradition.”

“No mom. I wish to claim a mate this year without claiming the organs. I am already the most valued unmated in the pack, and I earned that with my own skills. I feel I deserve that much.” Mist Coat held a firm appearance and a calm, even tone, looking directly into her mother’s eyes, challenging her.

Her mother responded by crouching down and raising the wood along her back and growling. “I am the alpha of this pack, and as long as I am, you will respect my decisions. You will follow the traditions.”

“I know that, mom.” Mist Coat turned her head away from her mother, but maintained her tone of voice. “But the mating season is almost upon us. The deer are already moving to their mating grounds, so if I were to try, I would be putting myself in far more danger than I know you would be comfortable with.”

Mist’s mom continued to growl, pressing forward slightly to assert her dominance. Mist Coat laid down and folded her ears back as she looked back at her mother. When her mother was practically on top of her, Mist Coat began to hesitantly lick at her mother’s lower jaw while wagging her tail. Eventually though, her mom stopped growling and turned, walking away from her daughter.

“I will allow you this, but never again will you refuse my orders.” She turned back towards Mist Coat and bared her teeth once again. “You may be my daughter, but that will not prevent me from removing you from the pack.”


Since then, Splinter seemed to see Mist Coat a lot more often. It was rather strange. While he adored every minute he got to spend with her he couldn’t shake the feeling that she should have been spending a lot more time with the timberwolf she wanted to be mates with. But then he remembered that she wanted her mate choice to be a surprise. If that was the case, he felt it better to just play along for the time being and savor what time he could spend with her while he had it. Last night had been a particularly interesting case as she had stayed fairly close to him until right before he went to sleep, at which point she said she had to do a patrol of the evening light border before she turned in.

Splinter was just waking up from a wonderful dream. He was playing with his son and his mate in the early morning fog. He and Mist Coat were teaching him how to properly take down prey by going after the right areas. He had just let his son tackle him and bite at his neck. When he finally opened his eyes to return to the real world, he was greeted by the sight of Mist Coat, smiling and laying down in front of him.

“You know you tend to bark in your sleep? It’s rather adorable.” A devious smirk formed across her muzzle. “Tell me, what did our son look like?”

Splinter felt embarrassed that she had heard him speaking in his sleep, more so due to what she had heard. He figured that since she had heard what he had said it would be pointless to try to hide it. It would be better to just be honest with her. “Like his mother, his coat was like yours.” Splinter stood up, stretching his front legs before repeating with his back.

“Oh? What about his father?” She stood up and walked next to him, pressing her body against his. “He must have inherited some of his father’s dashing looks. Or do you think I can have offspring by myself?” Mist Coat licked his muzzle when she finished.

Splinter chuckled. “I don’t think he honestly did. Besides, it’s you he should really be taking after.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Splinter.” Mist Coat walked past him and turned to face him. Her ears were slightly back and her eyes and voice betrayed how much she cared. “You are a great timberwolf, any female would be happy to be your mate. You might not see it but I do.” She walked back over to him and wrapped her head around his neck. “I love you, Splinter. You’ve always been like a brother to me. I hope your pup takes after you as much as he does from your mate. Whether you have a son or daughter, they will be yours and your mate’s, I hope you remember that.”

Splinter hugged her back. “I will. I just can’t believe you would say something like that about me.”

Mist Coat pulled away. When Splinter looked at her she had replaced her previous caring smile with her usual self-satisfied simper. “Well you better start believing it, or I’ll just have to rethink my opinion of you. Now get going, you have patrol today. And before you go, I marked the tree over there before you woke up. I don't think my scent was too strong this morning, would you mind marking it over for me? You still owe me from when I helped you.”

After Mist Coat left the clearing Splinter made his way over to the tree she motioned towards and sniffed around for her scent. When he found it he made sure to mark over it and proceeded to where the members assigned to patrol usually met. The scent didn’t seem too weak to him, but he wasn’t going to contradict her.

When he arrived at the location, he saw the members that had also been assigned: Grey Pelt, Fog Breath, Red Claw, and Doe Tail, the omega. He always felt sorry for Doe Tail. The poor dog was the first twin that had been birthed in the pack in several generations. Unfortunately, he had not developed properly. He had always been too scrawny to properly hunt and due to some quirk, his tail was always short, only slightly longer than a deer’s, earning his name.

“There he is. Took you long enough, Splinter,” Grey Pelt jovially greeted him. “Let me guess, starting mating season early with your sweet Mist Coat?”

“No. I just overslept.”

“Well then, seeing as you were the last here you get to take care of Doe Tail today. You and him will patrol the morning light border, I will patrol the moss grove, Fog Breath will take the evening light border, and finally Red Claw will watch the barren grove.”

With a nod everyone dispersed in the direction they were assigned. Doe Tail followed him, keeping his ears held flat against his head, his tail firmly pressed against his rear, and his head pointed down. The two of them walked in silence for several minutes after this, the only sounds being a small number of noisy bugs that would always keep him awake during the warm months and his and Doe Tail’s paw steps.

“I’m sorry you have to watch me, Splinter, I know I’ll only hold you back.” Doe Tail’s voice finally broke the silence, his voice only slightly louder than a whisper.

Splinter stopped in his tracks and turned to face Doe Tail. “Don’t talk like that Doe, everyone cares about you. You may not think it but there isn’t a single member of the pack that wouldn’t lay down their lives to protect you.”

Doe Tail simply sat down on his tail and turned away from him. Splinter loved Doe Tail like a brother, and it was moments like this that broke his heart. Doe Tail would always be the pack’s omega. He was the smallest male by a large margin and had been the omega for so long his confidence was completely missing. In other packs, the omega might change every so often if they could best another of the pack and switch places. Not Doe Tail, he was too small and weak. The first time he had challenged another member of the pack so he would no longer be the omega, the wolf he challenged went easy on him, and still won.

What made it worse was that being the omega meant that there was no hope of Doe ever taking a mate. And here he was, the wolf that was almost the most valued unmated male in the pack with the one wolf of the pack who could never take a mate. Splinter didn’t think the others had thought this plan through.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Splinter. I don’t contribute to the pack the way everyone else does. I just need to make sure everywolf doesn’t get too angry.”

Splinter sighed. “Doe Tail, you’re like a brother to me. I’ll always be there for you.” Splinter had to stop himself from calling him his little brother. He was three years Doe Tail’s junior, so pointing out their difference in standing seemed needlessly cruel. It also didn't help that as the omega, Doe Tail needed to be there to take some abuse from the other pack members when tempers ran high. Splinter did what he could to make sure he wasn’t one of those wolves very often. He would often make sure Doe remained healthy and had tried on numerous occasions to help his confidence, but nothing seemed to help him hold his head higher.

Before he could turn around and signal for Doe to follow, a yelp came from behind them. It sounded like the yelp had come from Grey Pelt. Both of them were worrying about what it might be that could make their pack mate cry out in pain and bolted in the direction of the cry.

When they arrived they were greeted by the sight of several large birds standing around the corpses of Red Claw and Fog Breath, with Grey Pelt to the left of the birds, missing several pieces along his back and right side. Before Splinter could join his comrade in fighting off the intruders, he saw one of the birds move one of its four legs and a long and shiny stick was hurled at Grey Pelt. When the stick hit Grey Pelt’s head, there was a bright flash and when Splinter’s vision cleared, there was Grey Pelt, except all the wood that made up his body had come apart. Grey Pelt was dead.

“RUN,” he barked at Doe Tail. These birds were able to kill members of the pack without fighting. If they made it to the rest of the pack… “Lead them away from the pack, we can’t let them harm them!”

Doe Tail didn’t need to be told twice. He started to run towards the moss grove. Splinter saw the birds turn in his direction; they were going to come after him. He spun around as fast as he could and sprinted towards the morning light border. If they were going to hunt him, he could at least try to keep them away from the pack.

He ran as fast as he could and didn’t turn back. He didn’t know if they were following him, but if he could at least keep the other pack members safe that’s all that mattered. He was starting to run out of breath, his panting becoming more and more labored, but he remembered the sight of three of his pack, killed by those vile birds, and knew he had to continue.

He felt he had run a significant distance and was about to turn around when his front left leg was suddenly subsumed in an incomprehensible pain. He looked down only to see that his leg was trapped in the jaws of some horrid unmoving beast that did not smell of the forest. He tried to bite it with all his force but the armor of the beast was harder than his teeth and did not release his leg.

He was trapped. He didn’t know what it was but he needed help. He called out to his pack to save him until he realized his mistake. If the birds had followed him and the pack came to help, he would be leading them to their death. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to kill more of his pack but he also didn’t want to die. He decided to do something he knew would likely spell his death, but was better than waiting for those foul birds.

With several quick breaths he focused on his left leg and willed it to disassociate from him. He knew that by doing so he might never regain the leg. The wood his pack required to sustain itself did not always supply them with the sizes they needed until the cold months, and by then he might be too late. But anything was better than waiting by to be killed by those monsters.

In one moment he could feel immeasurable pain in his leg, the next, nothing. He didn’t have enough time to contemplate what he had just done before a rustling of leaves near him reminded him of his predicament. He continued his dash towards the rising sun but the lack of one of his legs was causing problems.

He couldn’t find the right balance as every time he would step on something other than ground he would invariable fall to the dirt. He could still hear something chasing him whenever he fell, and it seemed to be closing in on him. When he fell for the seventh time, he could tell whatever was following him was almost on top of him. In the spur-of-the-moment Splinter decided that he would hide.

Splinter quickly jumped into a nearby bush and laid as flat and still as he could. He knew how well both the fog hid him and along with how his body blended into the surroundings, he would be well hidden. However, if whatever it was that had followed him was able to find him he would need to defend himself. So, he prepared his body to make a leap at anything that came towards him. Without one of his legs he wouldn’t be able to leap as hard as he would like but he had to do what he could.

When what appeared to have been following him since he had freed himself from the jaws of the vile beast appeared in the place he last fell he was not prepared for what he saw.

It was one of the strange deer from the territory his pack would occasionally hunt. Except this one was brown like a normal deer, and it had wings.

Author's Note:

This chapter was reworked from the original version to flow better and not expo dump as hard.