<span style="font-family: Artisan;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;">Lynnia</span></span><br/><br/>A land without a name is no land at all. But to the wolf, it matters none. Ancient powers are at work in this land. A fierce and beautiful power is gifted to the chosen, which are wolves. Mountains kissed the sky in the west, a valley stretching between it and the forested hills. A great river cut through the nameless land, until ceasing to flow in two crystal lakes. Unbroken plains extended for miles between the river and mountains, just south of the valley. Each place had its respective power, its respective pack.<br/><br/>In the Great Valley, the Witching Pack had claimed its territory centuries before. Mists clustered over the ground in mornings and at dayâ€™s end, and navigating through it was nearly impossible when the clouds overhead were thick and gray. Not wooded enough to qualify as a forest, the turf was mostly made up of fast-growing wildflowers. The Great Valley was beautiful in the Hot months, flowers filling the air with sweet scents and butterflies whirling about in the wind.<br/><br/>Now the sun was rising, the chilled air heating slightly by the minute. It was the dead of winter, and would be for many more moons. It had snowed once, but it had long since melted. Another snow storm was brewing to the east, but the wolves were unaware.<br/><br/>As the sun began its slow ascent through the cloudless blue sky, the wolves began to stir in their warm dens. The first to emerge were the hunters. The pack was growing hungry. They would hunt today. The females soon began to awake, which meant the pups would be waking quickly after.<br/><br/>The very last to awake was white she-wolf who had intended to sleep through the morning. But, alas, one of the overgrown pups accidently trampled her whilst playing rough with its littermate, thus waking her. Irately, she snapped at their little tails, growling as they scuttled away, whimpering. For a moment, Lynnia lay there with her ears splayed back, watching after them. Finally, with a huff that could only be described as a sigh of annoyance, she rose to her paws and stretched her limbs, stiff from curling up against the cold air.<br/><br/>She glanced about the den she shared with her three littermates, finding it empty. The last to awaken, as per usual. Shaking out her moon-colored fur, she slipped through the den opening, searching for the pups sheâ€™d frightened earlier. She found them lapping at a puddle, all awkward with their long legs and too-big ears and paws. Their litter had been whelped last summer, and they were a good 7 moons old by now, and Motherâ€™s third litter.<br/><br/>As she approached them, she caught a foreign scent in the wind, and she raised her head as she tasted it. Curiosity getting the better of her, as it had for most of her life, she loped into the trees at an easy trot. As an afterthought, she told the pups over her shoulder, â€œGo to Mother,â€ then vanished into the mist.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="font-family: Artisan;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;">Kai</span></span><br/><br/>Trotting through the woods was yet another wolf, this one black as night, with eyes that glowed with light of the stars. Male, and fairly large, similar in size to a wolf of the Rock Pack of the Soaring Mountains, yet different in his long, strong legs meant for running long distances at incredible speeds.<br/><br/>He walked with his head low, ears pricked up, and his tail dipped down until angling slightly up. He was somewhere in the forests now, devoutly heading in no specific direction. Just moving because that is what he must do. There were no thoughts, only instinct, which he had been relying on for about a year now.<br/><br/>Suddenly, a doe stepped into his path. His fluid lope ceased, and his head rose to inspect the deer. It was stunned temporarily, its eyes locked on his. With slow movements, he padded forward, never breaking eye contact with the doe. His fluid movements kept the deer entranced, frozen in its staring.<br/><br/>Kai prepared to spring, his muscles tensing, the front of him dipping forward. Without warning, the deer finally jolted out of her trance, and bolted up the deer path. Without hesitating, the wolf sprung after it, chasing it down. It hopped over a fallen tree, bounding through the brush. He lost sight of it for a moment, when it turned completely around and went in another direction. But his strong legs brought him back to it quickly.<br/><br/>He was mere inches away, just one bound forward, and he would have it. If he had been in a pack, it would be ridiculously easy. Coiling for a spring, he clamped his jaws on the deerâ€™s leg, and felt it go down. The doe, its leg snapped in two, struggled to its feet, then fell back, screaming in pain and panic.<br/><br/>Kai panted, and moved to silence it, until he heard movement in the woods. Cold fear sliced through him, and he shrunk into a defensive stance, his ears straining forward. Had he just taken down another packâ€™s kill? There werenâ€™t any other deer around, it only made sense that it had been driven away from a herd. With careful slowness, he inched away from the suddenly quiet deer, watching the woods guardedly. If it was another wolf, he would leave. If it was a pack, heâ€™d bolt. He didnâ€™t feel up to a fight today.