Blacktail Deer Plateau sassy fox

A very long time ago Osprey too had done everything to appear tougher, cooler and less-girly than she was. That was the influence, when you were the only girl in a litter of boys. You had to keep up with them, you had to be better than them at all costs, because they had (and still have) this nasty thing or attitude called "you are just a girl" to excuse all the things she couldn't immediately do. And only in the later years Osprey had grown up to understand that she didn't have to compete with everyone. She was great and unique the way she was.

"They call him Dar and the story goes that, when he was born, his pelt was dark as the midnight, except for the one white star on his forehead. An elder of his pack, who was well trained in the ways of the world and beyond, predicted him a great future and that he would do great deeds. Therefore he was brought up as a pampered prince, who was protected from all troubles and was allowed to have everything he wanted.

He grew up to be smart and agile, a skilled hunter and leader-to-be, yet he was proud and selfish and cared little for others. But the thing that troubled him the most was the yearning in his heart for something he did not have and couldn't name. As the years passed, this feeling of missing something grew stronger and to quench it, he did the most reckless things possible.

One day, however, his deed cost the lives of his family. He had been told not to go near the dancing flames, which belonged to the Other kind, but he did. The magic of them was so strong that he stole them and ran back to his home in the forest to show his family that he had outwitted the Other kind, that there was nothing to be afraid off.

It was a warm summer evening, the grass was dry, so were the trees and, wherever Dar set his paws, there the flames danced. By the time he reached his family the whole forest was aflame. He got scared and ran for his life, while the screams of pain and agony of the dying lives echoed in the forest for days. When the flames finally stopped - there was nothing left.

It took weeks for Dar to recover, yet the screams and images of the family he had let down and brought to death haunted him, wherever he went. There was no peace for him, because the thing he had done was unforgivable. He realized this, the feeling of guilt grew and he slowly wasted away. He saw no point in his life.

One evening, exhausted from his long journey, he settled down by the roots of an old willow tree. There he saw the most amazing dream, because the tree was alive, Dar could feel, how life pulsed underneath through the roots, up the trunk and to the tips of the branches, which reached for the sky. He saw creatures running up and down the tree, heard them talking and singing.

Suddenly the image changed and he saw that the roots, which were settled deep in the ground, and the branches were both connected to the universe. There was a world beneath and above and it was the same. When he woke up the next morning, he felt curious and excited. He spent the rest of the day by the willow tree, trying to find out any thing that would tell that his dream was true, yet there was none.

The next night his dream was a little different - he could still feel the life pulsing within the tree, yet now he saw numerous dark figures, climbing up from the tips of the roots, up the trunk and to the branches. And when they reached them, they turned into little orbs of light, which then joined the stars in the sky. He was amazed by the sight and decided to follow them," there Osprey stopped, got to her feet and after a quick look around approached a little puddle to have a drink. The story was quite long and this was just the beginning of it.