TW: mentions of blo0d, d3ath and f!ghting (pls don't report) Fur Of Red Chapter 4 Echofur and Windpelt’s life went on as normal. Soon, the pups had opened their eyes. Breezepup was the most adventurous, often disappearing, worrying his mother and then reappearing somewhere in the clearing. Stonepup was the most curious, and when she tagged along with her brother on adventures she would bring back trinkets and items that were unfamiliar to her, parade them around the clearing and annoy everyone until someone told her what it was. Creekpup was the most timid, rarely joining his siblings on their outings. He preferred the safety of the den to the danger of the outside world. But Echofur still couldn’t shake the smell of smoke. It seemed to follow her everywhere around the clearing. She tried alerting other wolves, but they dismissed it. Even the leader of the pack, Riversong, thought Echofur was just an overprotective new mother. But one day, the three pups ventured too far away from their mother. All three of them decided to go on an early-morning adventure, to escape the dreaded grooming from their parents. Stonepup saw it first. It was a huge, glowing orange monster. The pups, curious as ever, ventured towards it. “It smells weird!” complained Creekpup. “We should go home!” The other pups laughed and called him a coward. Breezepup dared him to go closer. He refused. “Fine!” Breezepup whined. “I’ll do it.” Stonepup offered to go with him, and Creekpup didn’t want to be left alone in the forest. When the monster saw the pups, it roared louder than thunder, and reared up. The pups shrieked in fear, and ran through the forest. But the monster was relentless. It chased them, devouring anything in its way. Every tree it consumed made it bigger, and soon it had doubled in size. The pups almost flew across the forest to the clearing, with the monster chasing them. The other wolves could smell it now. “RUN!” howled Riversong. “FIRE! RUN!” The wolves began frantically running to and fro, but nowhere was safe. In the chaos, no-one was watching the pups, and as the wolves gathered on the roof of Shadowgaze’s cave, Echofur gasped. All the blood drained from her face. “The pups,” she whispered. Chapter 5 A bone-chilling cry cut through the air like a knife through butter. Echofur howled in shock. Any mother would recognise her pups’ voice. Even over the roar of a fire. Chapter 6 Echofur collapsed. “I failed. I failed. How could I have been so stupid? I failed, I failed, I failed…” she sobbed, over and over again. Windpelt, too, looked hollow with grief. All the light from his eyes had extinguished, and even his fur looked duller than usual. “All that, for nothing…” he whispered. Shadowgaze was sitting, quietly observing the chaos around them. A brilliant purple, luminescent and slightly transparent wolf lit up their darkness, and sat down next to them. “Oh, Hora. Why did you do that? They were still so young. You could have given them more time!” The spirit wolf shook her head. “It was their time. You shall see” Her voice was not heard, but it echoed around Shadowgaze’s head. Hora leapt to the sky, and lolloped away, leaving a final message, this time one that was meant to be heard by the ordinary wolves. Shadowgaze made their way towards Riversong. “I have a prophecy from the Star Spirits,” they said. Riversong silenced his grieving pack, so that Shadowgaze could deliver their prophecy. “There will come a wolf, A wolf with fur of red, There will come a wolf, Born from a fiery bed. There will come a wolf, Kin to air, to earth, to water, There will come a wolf, Echo and wind’s own daughter. There will come a wolf, A wolf with eyes of flame, There will come a wolf, And all wolves shall know her name.” CONTINUED BELOW
Chapter 7 The wolves of the pack watched the fire rage from their viewpoint on top of Shadowgaze’s cave. It destroyed everything. It destroyed their food, it destroyed their home, and it destroyed the lives that their ancestors had fought to build. Then the rain came. Fat droplets fell from the sky, as if the clouds themselves were crying. But the rain battled the fire, and for a while it looked as if the fire was winning. The rain got heavier, soaking the wolves to the bone. The fire gave a last roar of fury, before collapsing into nothing but embers and ash. That was all that remained of the wolves’ home as well. There was nothing left. Nothing but embers and ash. But wait – there was something. At first, Echofur thought it was just a spark. Then, it cried. Her heart skipped a beat. But this creature – whatever it was – was not her pup. It was tiny, and bright orange, like the fire that had raged through this camp. Grief got the better of her, and Echofur picked up the tiny pup by the scruff of its neck. This may not have been her pup, but she had milk, and no pups of her own left to drink it. So, it may as well not go to waste. She brought the pup to where her den used to be. “I will name you Scorchpup,” she said, “And nothing will ever come between us.” THE END First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1281315086/ Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1281315086/ Next: Not done This is the second and last part of the story.
