through all the pain and the sorrows

@Koda before Runt broke her ankle

The loner now had her den made just outside the plateau's borders. It was a foxhole that had been just the right size for the pipsqueak. She got up this morning, eager to do something. She was about to go on and fool around inside the borders, but she paused. Last time she'd gotten in a little fight with the alpha. So instead of being obnoxious she catiously stepped over the border. She wished she could just climb into a tree and watched what went on down here, but having fun wasn't that easy. She'd have to take the risk of sitting where others could get to her. So the little girl sat just two feet or so past the border, staring off into the trees and waiting for some company.

Lacking the motivation to hunt, Koda had returned to patrolling on his own. The long walks gave him a lot of time alone, too much time. The more time he passed alone, the more negative his internal dialogue became. The gray wolf didn't realize it, but he was starting to slip into the gray fog of depression.

A rustling ahead grabbed his attention. Someone was on the other side. 'Another intruder?' He groaned to himself. He'd dealt with Raissa at the border the night before. Was Dante's pee not strong enough to deter these loners?

Thinking quickly, Koda ducked behind a tree and waited. Soon, a little nose poked through the undergrowth and scanned the area. After she decided it was safe to come out, the intruder emerged, parking her butt just inside plateau territory.

Koda stepped out from behind the trunk. "Hey!" he shouted, hoping to scare the little wolf. "You get your butt back over that border!"

She looked up wide-eyed to a grayish wolf with reddish ears. "You can't tell me what ta do, you aren't my mom!" She said. "Plus you're not the alpha of here." She said. She had forgotten about slow, cautious approaching and had already moved forward to obnoxious bold talk. "You peeing in the same place every day ain't gonna keep me from comin' over here." She said with a mischievous smile.

The little wolf's sass irked the usually calm, mellow male. Koda actually bristled and growled at the girl, extremely out of character for a guy who abhorred using foul language in front of a lady. Koda had been stuffing his feelings of resentment, loss and sadness away for a long time, and now he finally had an excuse to let it all out. He tried to keep it under control. Even though she had trespassed, he didn't want this little wolf to become a scapegoat for his pent up frustration and anger.

"I may not be the alpha, but you don't belong here," he said. "I'm allowed to get rid of you by any means necessary, so don't make this harder than it has to be." Koda hoped she would listen. One more smart-ass remark might be enough to push him over the edge.

sorry for the short spree, but this is probably my last post here tonight.

Honestly the almost-nameless didn't really want to get in yet another fight. Now she was just curious. And she decided to voice it, hoping it wouldn't further danger her. "But I don't get it. I don't get why it's important that we stay off your land. Can I ask that?" She said, her curious lime eyes inquisitive. "Please don't hurt me." She added, not a whine, but in a regular statement with a regular tone. Even though the wording sounded very nervous.

Koda hesitated. He didn't actually have a good explanation for her. He guessed it had to do with the pack not wanting to share it's resources with outsiders, who didn't offer anything in return. "Because, we don't have room for freeloaders," he stated flatly.

Something occurred to Koda just then. "Hey, have you been digging up our caches?" He asked in an accusing tone. He and Osprey had caught a coyote red-handed, but he'd always suspected there might be a second thief.

She raised an eyebrow. "Whatza freeloader?" She asked with a quizzical expression on her face. She was only half a year old, she didn't know everything the adults knew. She was still practically a puppy, despite all she'd been through at the slave camp.
Her eyes narrowed in anger. "Why would ya blame me fo' your problems? Do ya really think I can't support m'self?" She growled. She wasn't that weak! She could live, she knew she could. Little did she know that when Winter arrived, she'd be in for a surprise. Hunting was not even easy for adults in the cold season.

"Settle down," said Koda, "I was just askin'." Now that he thought about it, the little wolf's paws were too small to have left the tracks he'd found at the crime scene.

Koda cocked his head and considered the young wolf. She so tiny, a strong gust of wind could probably take her off her feet. "How does a little squirt like you make it all alone out here?" He wondered aloud. Suddenly, he found himself feeling a little sorry for the intruder he was supposed to be getting rid of. A solution came to mind: she wouldn't be an intruder anymore if she became a member, then he wouldn't have to feel bad about helping her. "Why don't you join the pack?" He was being serious. The girl was lurking around the fringes of the plateau anyway, why not just become a full-fledged member and reap all the benefits?

"I just try really hard, 'n remember what Coal taught me." She said with a small grin. She was brave, a pretty good hunter, and a great fighter for her age. And when her first winter came, it would be no match for her survival skills! Or so she thought. "I don't know, I've still been thinkin' about which pack to join. Yours seems nice, but a lot of the ones I've seen have someone offerin' me a stay there. You got friendly sleepy dude's pack up north, and Amekaze's pack on the mount'n, and rough grey dude's pack here, and the list goes on. I'm afraid ta join one 'cause I'm afraid da othas will turn against me." She said with a shrug.

fade?

"It is a big decision," he said with a nod. The little wolf was smart to think about her options before committing to a pack. Winter was drawing ever closer, however, her time would soon run out. He hoped she would find herself a place to call home before the weather turned too nasty. But as concerned as he was for her, he couldn't help her much if she remained a lone wolf.

"If you don't wanna join, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," the Blacktail wolf jerked his muzzle in the direction of the border. "Go on, get back on your side," He said. "Don't make me get nasty, now"

sure! thanks for the thread!

She was a bit glad it had't ended in any blood at all. She held respect for him that he hadn't just flat out attacked. She nodded. "Yes sir. Thank ya for not hurtin' me." She said to him with a cute little smile that only a puppy could make. She took a few steps backwards, back over the border. "G'bye!" She called, and then turned tail and began to trot towards who knows where.