Arrow Lake [J] The Beginning of the End

Kato trotted cautiously through the tall grass and cattails that grew near the lake. He had been following the bank of this body of water for two days, and now he had finally found the end. The banks that framed the water were much closer together here, and rose up in steep cliffs and rugged mountains. The lake's water was a much clearer, icier blue here due to the run-off that fed the lake. Stopping, Kato quickly drank from the frigid water.
He did not enjoy the hot weather as much as others, so the cold water was very welcome. Even with the brisk breeze that swept the mountains, it was still quite warm for his taste. Kato had never enjoyed the summer months to any great degree. They were really just something he simply tolerated because he had no choice but to live with it. He preferred the fall months when the leaves were changing color and it was cool, but not freezing cold as in winter. Not that he didn't appreciate winter in all it's snow-bound beauty, but it was very hard to hunt when the powdery snow rose above his shoulders.
Indeed, fall was the most welcome season. For now, however, it was most certainly summer and Kato simply had to make the best of it, which is why he had traveled into the mountains to begin with. That and to move away from the many wolf packs that made their homes in the lower altitudes.

The lean wolf lifted his head from the water and twitched his ears, alert for any sign of another wolf. Kato had been a loner a long time (some would say too long) and was very cautious around others of his kind. For most of his life he had been wandering on his own, going wherever his paws saw fit to take him. Though he would never admit it, he was beginning to grow lonely, always pushing away anyone he met. Subconsciously Kato had been craving the comfort of a pack, of a friend, of a home.

Pointing his body up the mountain, he left the water behind and loped over a small ridge and found himself in a gorgeous mountain valley. As he traveled farther into it, he could smell the scent of wolves. Yet, for some unknown reason, he did not turn around, but kept pushing onward, careful to stay outside the strange pack's borders, but remaining within sight to see if he might be able to catch a glimpse of this pack.