Roads Untraveled

She was not too far off from the pack, keeping them collected and united. Her spirits were far from down; in fact, they were exceptionally lifted. In the face of the ugly storm, they had lived. Only one was unaccounted for that she had known personally—the red one—and her heart was heavier for it. This was life, however; unfortunate circumstances. Right place, wrong time. She was summoned in a howl, and the alpha female moved as fast as her heavily pregnant form could allow her. The pains were more frequent. Tonravik felt the cubs in there were ready to burst; she could only hope they lived through the journey. The woman swore she felt kicks, but then, she was unexperienced in this avenue.

The leader was not one for hoping. It was futile. Hope did more harm than it did good.

But the unfeeling matriarch hoped nonetheless.

She was not so far from the place she had been summoned to. The whole pack traveled in increments, keeping to the destroyed path so as to ease their journey. They had learned that it was better to move where it passed through than the wreckage, where there was danger at every turn. An unstable tree. A bear, falling from the sky that had been blown upon a tree that survived. Having grown wise to this, they went with what the storm had given them. A trail.

The mountain was massive. Far larger than the Spine, and far more difficult for those unused to such territory to do much of anything before they knew it. While at this point, she was willing to settle anywhere due to her condition, she truly enjoyed the prospect of the challenge. To conquer this mountain, to make it her own. The woman had usurped, and would again if need be—she thought of Silvertip on their journey—but the place here presented a clean opportunity... and one she had no choice but to take. She was fortunately pleased to make it, as she climbed. There was a new verve in her step. The leader was exhausted... but she felt, as she climbed, that the time to bring that tiredness to an end, to grow well-rested, had come.

From a distance, these were all things she imagined. The peaks and then some were littered in snow. At last, she slid between her mate and Nanuk, her eyes upon the same thing as theirs.