"Sometimes I wonder why I was chosen. I pass by someone a year older than me, and they bow their head respectfully, and I wonder why someone three years old should lead a pack. Why not someone who has more years of experience? Yet here I am.
"But I think it's best to leave these doubts behind. If I focus on the doubts, what of the rises? For instance, I see Grog telling stories to the young pups, or Fernando helping with community projects, and I feel a swell of pride for who we have become. For who we are. Because we are Hail.
"And I swear on my life I will never let you down, not even at death's door, not even in my last breath. I swear I will always protect you with my life, as I know you would do the same for me. I am forever your loyal servant."- Excerpt from Alpha Quill's first address
Alpha Swift
Swift stood at the entrance to the cave, her mouth twisted to the side. Her fur whipped wildly in the wind.
"No cure?" She asked the Mender beside her, her eyes full of concern.
The Mender shook her head sadly. "No cure," she repeated. "From what we can gather, it spreads through blood, which is why those with open wounds can't be near the sick. It also seems to be rampant in what prey we have left, but they are unaffected, which is why wolves cannot tell if what they eat will give them this disease or not."
Swift nodded in understanding. "Thank you," she said. "You may return to your work." The Mender bowed her head and scurried off to tend to the sick. Swift sighed and looked down. This disease had affected many, and some had even died from it. Even one of her own pups had it. Concern was growing like a tumor inside her, and if it spread as fast as this disease, she would be a paranoid fool by the days end.
"I will bring you a cure," she promised the wolves in the Menders cave quietly. "Even if it costs me my life." Sullenly she turned to walk away, her face turned from the cave filled with the sick and dying.
Alpha Alacrán
The pups leaned in eagerly to hear the four year old's words. It was not everyday they heard a story, and this was better than normal: a Puppy Bowl story. Alacrán had successfully kept the pack under his thumb (so to speak), and now all the pups were eager for the Bowl and killing.
"My allies and I were hungry," he said to the pups. "Starving, in fact. Soon enough we were sure to die of hunger. And if one dies from hunger, nobody gets the kill points!" The pups gasped in anger or surprise or, in one pup's case, fear, for she was the only pup that wasn't outwardly Storm. He would have to have private training on her. "Now, near our camp, there was a bush. This bush was filled with berries. With my knowledge, I knew these were poisonous. My allies didn't. So you know what I did?" The pups leaned forward to hear.
Alacrán chuckled, which turned into a maniacal laugh. "Why, I picked the berries and brought them to camp, saying they were dinner. We all ate them. You know what happened next?"
One pup raised his paw, and Alacrán nodded to him. He cleared his throat. "Your allies died," he said. "But since you're poison... you're immune to poison, and didn't die?"
He smiled and patted the pup on the head. "Exactly!" He cackled. "See, the Bowl isn't always won by strength. Sometimes, it's the clever ones who escape."
A messenger trotted up behind Alacrán and cleared her throat to get his attention. "She's almost here," she said impatiently.
The alpha scowled and turned to the pups. "Next time, I'll tell you about my frozen Lake trick," he said, which the pups responded to with an eager "okay!" He waved his paw, and they scattered across the camp to their various homes or training appointments. He sighed and stood up, nodding to the messenger and trotting away.
He came to a cliff edge and sat down. He'd been dreading this. Suddenly the wind picked up, and he could see a white form coming towards him across the plains. He grinned maliciously and waited.
Alpha Quill
The winged wolf sat a few paces away from the cave, on a rock jutting out of the ground. A long line snaked in front of him. It was his daily Q & A with the alpha.
A she-wolf nodded her head to him, then looked up. "My pups," she said. "They've caught a terrible illness, and none of the healers can fix it. And my pups aren't the only ones." A few in the line murmured agreement. "I request permission to go to another pack to see if they have a cure."
Quill shifted uncomfortably on the rock. He could never find a comfy position up here. "I'm not sure how safe that is," he said. "I'll send one of our ambassadors to Mist, because Alpha Swift will recognize our ambassadors and take them in gladly. Mist also seems more likely to have found a cure."
The female bowed her head. "Thank you, alpha," she said as she walked away. A few more stepped out of line and resumed daily business. Perhaps they too were inquiring on the illness. The next wolf was pure black, with startling blue eyes. Fernando.
"Alpha," he said, tipping his head. "I have come back from one of my hunting expeditions with my assigned group, but the pray is scarcer. Like another pack has come and decided to feed off our supply. I was wondering if you knew why?"
Quill shook his head. "I do not," he said, "but I assure you I will look into it." Fernando thanked him and walked away, probably to go get his sister into some shenanigans. What he didn't know what that the Alphas were already doing something. In fact, Skyfall was doing something that very moment.
He looked up at the long line and sighed as the next wolf came. This was going to be a long day.
