The Wall Heed my inferno

"Old habits die hard" Luma thought to herself in amusement, as she wandered the mountains aimlessly, lost in her thoughts. Unlike every other time she had awoken from her afternoon nap, this afternoon, she found herself with actual intentions to do something productive. It was the scent of a wild hare, which hit her nostrils hard and beckoned her down from the dream world in the stars, that motivated her to leave the soft nest she made and peruse it onto higher ground. However, eventually, Luma’s lack of knowledge on the mountains overpowered her tracking skills, and she somehow became lost, eventually forgetting she had been doing anything at all. A butterfly teased her nose, dancing in brilliant black and yellow, and she playfully bounced after it, snapping every times it was a few inches above her head, only for it to dash up 3 feet out of reach and float back down again. Oh, if only she could jump the way she used to. She was fully aware that since she lacked a pack, it was in her best interest to consistently search for food and she had already realized that her ribs were protruding when she groomed herself. Whenever she had problems in her life, however, she always preferred to ignore them and this situation was no different.

     7 moon rises. That was how long ago she had set out from her pack and into the brittle, rough wilderness they referred to as the unknown. So far, the whole journey had been nothing like what she had played it out to be in her whimsical day dreams. Her hunting was often unsuccessful and she went entire days without food. Also, the non-lupine animals that lived in the forests were not as friendly as those back at her home, and she had been attacked several times, which resulted in a serious injury to one of her legs. She was certain that no wolf pack would want her now. She was a hideous thing, small and scrawny, and she was no longer the swift tempest she used to be. Yes, she was clever, and knew how to use the wind to trick a small animal into allowing her to get 30 yards close to it, but those were useless skills where she came from, in the land of endless elk and deer, and she was sure she would seem just as worthless here. After Luma had crossed the borders that distinguished the Teekon Wilds from the rest of the wilderness, she had continued her way west with no clue where she was going. In the process, she passed several packs, but she lacked the esteem to request membership from any. She knew that there was even a pack that resided close to the mountains she lurked in now, but if she could hardly pull herself out of her fuzzy stupor to feed her emaciated pelt, how could she introduce herself to a potentially dangerous group of strangers?
           
     The butterfly lead Luma into a small clearing, with bluebells and a creek. It was on one of the many edges of the mountain, and it sloped down into a valley. Overcome with childish delight, Luma forgot the butterfly and played in the flowers for a while, stumbling over her paws as though she were a puppy again. A short time passed, and she went to the creek, and, finding a few fish frozen inside, she broke them free and sat upon a rock, enjoying her rare, chilly treat. Perhaps if there had not been so many flowers, and if her muzzle wasn’t buried deep in fish, she would have caught the scent of an unknown female wolf slowly approaching her.