Neverwinter Forest Intrepid

Have a plot twist! It's entirely up to you what you decide to do with it. :)

She did not come after him, though Impala remained tense, as he could no longer see her. Perhaps she would attempt to ambush him. He listened for the minutest sounds of approach, though the bull moose's final, throaty bugles made it difficult. His ears flicked to and fro and his gray eyes shifted ceaselessly, bouncing from the dying ungulate to the surrounding brush and back again. His nostrils flared as he read the scents on the air like a particularly engrossing book. He would not be caught unawares.

Then the black she-wolf stepped out of the brush, closing in on the moose as the hour of his death arrived at last. Before she began to feed, she sent up an unmistakable call, summoning the rest of her pack. Impala's blackened ears flattened and he pressed himself closer to the forest floor, then began a swift and silent retreat. There was no opportunity for him here and it was safest to leave the area before her comrades arrived.

Yet one prowled onto the scene before Impala slipped away. The sight of him arrested the yearling. His breath caught in his throat. Many times he had pictured his father as Turquoise had described him: a thick russet pelt, blazing yellow eyes and battle scars on his snout. Impossibly, that mental image stood before the young Impala now, causing his heart to thunder rapidly in his chest. He had not expected to find his sire here in this wood, yet there could be no mistake; it was him.

Daringly, Impala decided to reveal himself to the feeding pair. When he emerged, he kept his eyes low, his ears pressed to the side and his tail limp behind him. He did not want their food; he had no appetite now. Instead, he wanted to speak to his father. He wished he had a name to positively identify the male, yet Turquoise hadn't known it. The only way to be sure was to ask questions. But Impala would hold his tongue until invited to speak.