Fantasy The Forbidden Wilderness - A Feral Rose Chronicle

[fiver]

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The Forbidden Wilderness - A Feral Rose Chronicle

The pack of _______ have been through many things, thrived through the most dire of
times. Together they stood. Loyalty, bravery, and outright determination has held this pack
together. However, mother nature has a way of testing the mightiest of creatures. Such is
the case, when a fire breaks out in the pack's home. It was merciless, giving the pack little
time to act. They, lost a lot of members during the fire, but they had little time to mourn the
losses of fallen friends, family, and even enemies. They, had to find a new territory to thrive
in once more.

It was a long, tiring journey, but they had finally made it. These wolves had finally made it
to their new territory. However, what lies in this new territory will truly test and push these
wolves to their limit. It'll be a battle for survival out here, and only they have the power to
do so. However, one never knows what the future may hold. And it may hold a greater
challenge then what these wolves are about to face.
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[First Rose]

The light of the early morning sun had just peeked over the peaceful and quiet forest. The winds were calm, and the temperature was mild, a steady fall day. It was a surprise such a lush and beautiful forest blossomed in this part in time. As the Earth itself had become a raging ball of war and fire, as the humans, to no one’s surprise, were going into an all out war. They were killing each other in whole new ways, using deadly machines, devastating technology, and even animals. But not to kill...to do something, but no one new what. Many creatures have flocked to the farthest woods and landscapes, from the highest of mountains, to the most dreadful marshes, it seemed the humans were everywhere at this point. However, there were always places in hindsight, but it was only so long until the humans would cultivate those lands as well.

Now, making their way into unknown territory, a decent sized wolf pack has been on the move for months, searching for a suitable home after a “natural” forest fire had erupted in their midst. No one knows for sure how it started, but it definitely wasn’t natural. The fire had taken no time when it spread, it was as if the grass and trees themselves were covered in gasoline. In consequence, the pack leader had no choice but to take the pack across the outskirts. A dry and near desert-like landscape. After getting across the horribly hot and dry plains, the wolves had arrived in a lush open forest. Trees above them stretched for miles, multiple rivers coiled along the land, and a mountain range went straight through the biome itself. It was perfect, but strikingly, it seems to be occupied. The pack was on edge, and everyone knew why, these lands weren’t claimed by wolves.​

 

[fiver]

Chapter I. - The Unexpected

"Perhaps, I was wrong...", were the alpha's thoughts as he led a patrol out of the camp, his amber gaze dull. What seemed like years ago, the pack had left their old territory due to a massive fire that had claimed their home. They, didn't have much time to mourn the lost of fallen friends and family, instead Romulus had urged the pack to move on. To journey to a new place. The pack had been reluctant to let go of everything so quickly, and that was understandable. But while Romulus also grieved the death of his own mate, he knew they had to move on. And quickly. The fire had destroyed the pack's territory. Prey was scarce, along with water. The territory they'd once known as a vast and lush forest, had become nothing more than an ash filled land, with blackened trees burned to a crisp. If, he could have done anything to stop the dreaded flames, he would have, but the alpha was only a mere wolf. He had no power over Mother Nature. Nature did as she wanted, and obviously the pack must have done something to upset her. Or someone. The flames had been merciless. Even now, though it was long over, the alpha could remember clearly how hot it had been, scorching his own off-white pelt. It had been a horrid experience, but their troubles were now over. At least, that's what he had thought. Now he wasn't so sure. Perhaps, their troubles were far from over.

As Romulus, led the wolves deeper into the territory he could only hope that none of this was true. The pack had been on edge for days, and it was all due to a single fact: this territory wasn't claimed by the wolves. At least, that's what Romulus believed, as they had found quite a few scents on the territory and scraps of prey. Perhaps, he was just imagining things, but part of him knew that all the signs led back to where it started. He needed to find the cause of this, though perhaps he was a fool doing so. He had no idea what was out there, and he had no idea if it was dangerous or not. As a matter of fact, if there was many of them...he could be leading the patrol straight into a deathtrap. He quickly shook his head to dislodge the thoughts from his mind. He couldn't think that way... But ever since those horrid flames had destroyed his pack, the alpha had been more on edge himself. Never in his entire life had he seen so much...death. His chest tightened at the thought, his pawsteps becoming uneven. "Focus Romulus...!", he scolded himself silently, shaking his head once more and turning his attention to the patrol. He couldn't be like this, not now. The last thing he needed was danger to arrive and he was too caught up in his thoughts, to handle the situation properly.

The wolves were currently heading towards the last place they had found the strange scents. Their quick footfalls, had ceased now quiet. Almost as if ghosts had taken the place of the wolves, as they moved silently through the territory. Careful to place their paws, so they didn't snap a fallen twig or scatter loose pebbles. Romulus had finally managed to push his thoughts aside, clearly focused on the task at hand. His amber gaze was narrowed as he held his snout close to the ground, sniffing around for any nearby scents. He didn't know why, but these scents seemed...dangerous. As if the creatures that the scent belonged to, were powerful creatures, ones not to be trifled with. A powerful presence seemed to lurk in this very forest, though every time the brute glanced around he would see...nothing. Romulus kept a level-head for the time being, though he could hear concerned whimpers from some of his pack-mates. "There is nothing to fear", he said to the others in a quiet voice, barely more than a whisper. For some reason, it seemed as if he had to speak quietly. This part of the land felt...forbidding. Like he wasn't supposed to be here, and everything in him sensed danger and screamed at him to run away. However, the drive in him to keep going was stronger at the moment, so he continued to lead his pack onward. Suddenly, a presence was sensed by the group. The wolves quickly came to a halt, their eyes flickering around. A low growl sounded in Romulus's throat, but he quickly cut himself off. Something was here. And whatever it was it wasn't good. The wolves moved closer together, their noses twitching as they scented the air to see if they could pinpoint where the creature was. Or creatures for that matter. "Stay calm and don't panic", were the hushed words from the alpha. "Perhaps, we have finally found what else lurks in our territory", he said a little louder than his first words, his amber gaze narrowing. However, as he seemed confident on the outside in the inside, he was just as worried as his fellow pack-mates. He might have just led everyone to their doom.​

 

[First Rose]

It had only been a few months since the young female sabertooth took charge of the pack. None of her members thought it would be her, no one anticipated the youngest and, nearly smallest of them all to defeat one of the most aggressive members. But she had won fairly and efficiently, in fact, her opponent had respectively submitted to her. Everyone did, but she couldn't help but to always feel threatened, to always feel like someone was primarily against her. Other than her cousin, of course, the cat had always had it out for her since they were cubs. So she wasn't surprised by that.

As the young sabertooth took a peaceful trek through the lush forest she called home, she had much bigger problems on her paws than just feeble rivalries with pack members. Currently, she was doing a small hunt, but not for prey, no, for something else. Something much more dangerous, humans. She had sworn the scent of their horrid being was sprinkled here and there. But she never saw them, a good thing, she supposed. The elders of the pack had told her she was being hysterical, claiming that the anxiety of being pack leader was finally setting in. She had only scoffed at them, declaring it to be nothing of the sort. But even she couldn't completely dismiss the truth. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, soughting just a stable place for their pack to live in peace. They had fought hard for it against other sabertooths.

Her fur was the color of dark cobalt stone, with rosette spots of dark brown and black decorating her beautifully toned coat. Behind her, was the very opponent she defeated to become Luna, though now, that defeat made him more of a nuisance than anything else. He seemed to always be somewhere close to her, it got on her nerves outrageously, but she had learned to admire his company. His coat was much lighter than hers, not to mention he was much bigger than her. His face was naturally defined and scarred from the many battles he'd been through, particularly the large scar that went down his right eye, which within his pupil, the color remained a milky white. The powerful feline could still see, but not as good as he was before. One could say, the high-tempered feline didn't learn his lessons well. However, as his eyesight sometimes failed him, his sense of smell, made up for it.

Quickly putting his nose to the air, it seemed the saber had gotten the sudden whiff of something. Instinctively, the alpha in front of him fixed her stance and looked around for any threats. Softly, he soon spoke, "Someone's.....many someones..." The large cat whispered as he started to trace the scent in a hurried fashion. His voice was low and harsh, almost as if he had lost his voice. The young alpha turned her head and stepped in front of him, letting out a low warning growl.

"If there's more of them Worriz, the idea would be to NoT be to go in with no idea what we're up against." The tiger referred to as Worriz bared his teeth and took a step back.

"It's nothing big Shyla, there's just a lot of them." He pried as he started to go around her, which was answered with a quick snap of her large fangs, making him stop in his tracks. His ears slightly lowering.

The saber named Shyla then nodded in a gesture to say 'follow,' "As I said...we're not going in with no idea what they are. C'mon, we'll get a closer look." She started toward the faint smell of intruders, but stopped to look behind her, "Do NOT, engage..." she warned with a quiet snarl. Worriz gave a low growl in reply but complied and followed her.

The smell of the strangers only grew as they trekked Northeast into the forest, staying low to the ground, and out of sight. The lush grass and many trees provided much cover for them, but as large cats, their smell was almost an instant alert to others, especially prey and other animals that something wasn't right. Eventually, the two felines came upon the large pack of wolves from the side. Their eyes set downward from the high ledge they were on that was masked in high grass. But as soon as the pack came in sight, Worriz couldn't stay hidden. It was as if he couldn't control the urge to brutally force the wolves out of his territory, his domain. He managed to continue his stalk for a moment, but even so, they seemed to have known they were there. As the wolves halted in place, so did Worriz and Shyla, waiting for them to think it was nothing and continue on. Apparently Shyla just wanted to make sure they didn't plan to stay, but Worriz however, he didn't care how, he just wanted them gone.

Worriz hated intruders with a dire passion, let alone, wolves. The dogs that stood in groups 10 or more because they couldn't take care of their own hides. He growled in disgust, and a second later, he threw himself over the ledge as he let out an ear-deafening roar.

By the time Shyla had noticed that her comrade was pouncing right into the action, she was far too late to stop him.

Landing 15 yards in front of the wolves with a large thud, the sabertooth gave another large roar before spitting out ferociously, "What are you pathetic dogs doing in our territory!?" He demanded. Then almost immediately afterward, Shyla landed beside him, but unlike him, she landed lightly and cautiously. Though now, she was in no mood for caution, Worriz had pretty much put them up against a horde of wolves, not to mention the fact that he would have done it regardless if he was alone. She gave a large snarl to her cohort, but now wasn't the time to prove dominance. She needed him with her, not against her. Turning her attention toward the wolves, she slowly approached their pack in a prideful and confident manner. Not seeming hostile toward them, but not at all friendly either, her teeth were still bared and her claws were poised to shred wolf hide if she needed to.

Pushing herself in front of Worriz's snarling and threatening expression, Shyla calmly made her way toward the presumed leader who was in front. Even if she was the smallest of her pack, she was still a few feet good feet taller than the wolf alpha. "I think you know very well that you shouldn't be here..." Standing in front of Romulus only about 5 yards, she ignored the other snarls and growls of the others. Respecting the fact that anyone would be aggressive toward a stranger addressing their alpha. "You're just passing through yes?...Not trying to stir up something you shouldn't?" Her voice was calm and relaxed, but yet, the nervous and doubtful disposition of a young Luna was still apparent.

Worriz was still right by her, in fact, a little bit toward the back, allowing her to talk to him. Instead of taking the ropes himself and acting like the total rogue he was. For once they were standing as a pack with her in the lead, and after that roar he gave, there was no question that the rest of the pack was on their way.