Ghost in the Winds

The older male wolf padded through the forest of The Sunspire territory, his eyes were glazed with sorrow. Today was the day he had lost his mate. He had counted everyday since the horrible mudslide that had taken her from him. A small rabbit passed right in front of him, but he didn't care. He felt like a ghost. That is why he had changed his name. He was a watcher who watched the younger wolves work. He was a Ghost Watcher.

Summer didn't know the old russett wolf that wandered so sullenly through their kingdom. He carried an air of misery upon his shoulders like a heavy blanket. Distress was not something the yearling was unfamiliar with, so in spite of the fact that by approaching the stranger he was wading into uncomfortable waters, he pressed forward anyway.

The ebony yearling strode towards the old wolf with a neutral posture and eyes flooded with sun and concern. He chuffed a low sound to the man so as not to take him by surprise as he came. "Are you feeling alright?" Summer asked once he came near enough for the russett to hear him, his head canted and ears perked to catch his response.

Ghost slightly jumped at the voice. He turned to face the younger coal colored male. "Oh hello. Yeah I'm fine." Ghost mumbled. He then sighed, letting his fur lie flat. Oh who am I kidding I'm not alright.. The rust colored male thought as he turned to face the ebony male again. "You know what, no I'm not alright. I've been thinking about my old mate and pup. On this day several years ago they were taken from me due to a horrible mudslide." Ghost turned away letting the black male get closer to him.

The older wolf assured him that he was alright, but Summer was not convinced. His instincts proved correct on the matter for very shortly after his declaration, his packmate was confessing the truth of his feelings. The Ostrega listened quietly as russett wolf told his tale, sympathy quickly flooding him. It seemed he was not so out of his element in this conversation as he had previously thought for he too had suffered a loss as grave as this.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Summer said quietly, "I'm sure it must be difficult for you, even after so long." A great deal more time had passed between this wolf's loss and Summer's own, but the yearling had no doubt that time had not done much to erase the pain. "My name is Summer," he added after a moment, not wanting to press the man to continue sharing if he didn't want to, but not wanting to make it seem as though he was unwilling to listen.

Ghost lifted his head and stretched after sitting hunched for so long. "Thank you for your sympathy, Summer," he groaned while stretching, "I'm Ghost." The red wolf stood slightly taller than the younger male next to him. "Well there's no use just sitting around sulking all day, we should hunt." Ghost said, all sadness seemingly disappeared. This young wolf has a strange scent to him. Besides Sunspire scent. He thought beginning to walk off.

The man did not seem willing to dwell on the issue, announcing his name after expressing his gratitude and then promptly suggesting a hunt. Summer was not about to force the issue, even though he had more on his mind on the subject. He knew that distracting oneself only worked for so long--exactly as long as the distracting task lasted, to be precise. But, he would not argue, and merely gave Ghost a smile.

"Certainly," the yearling replied, "Any location or game in mind? I scented a group of wild turkey earlier today nearer to the edge of the forest." Summer would happily follow wherever his packmate chose to lead him, but he could not help but make the suggestion so that they wouldn't have to start searching from scratch.

As Summer suggested turkey, Ghost's mouth began to water. "Oh turkey does sound good." He said, a single string of drool dribbled down his graying chin. "Lead the way, Summer."

Ghost was quick to agree to Summer's suggestion and to encourage him to lead on, which caused the boy to stand a little taller with a touch of pride. He gave a nod of his dark head and turned to lope swiftly off through the trees. He had done a great deal of traversing the grove since he'd sobered up from his addiction, finding something healing about learning to navigate the uneven and obstacle-filled terrain. So it was with grace and artful skill that he lead them through the woods, slowly only when a while later he began his final approach upon his desired destination.

The trees broke along the edge of the oasis as the tall grasses of the sloping plains stood up from the ground to take their place. Summer peered over their yellowing tips to spy their quarry further down along the edge of the forest where they huddled together in a clearing, pecking at the ground and at their own feathers idly. Summer turned to look at Ghost, giving the older man a nod so as to direct him out into the fields to sneak up on them from the cover of the tall grasses. The Ostrega's intent was to creep back into the grove and manuever along the trees so that he could surprise them from the other side, suspecting that once the old wolf herded them into the trees, they'd find it harder to flee and thus easier for the wolves to catch.

Ghost followed the black male to a clearing and saw the fowl pecking at the grass. Summer directed the older male towards the field as he crouched closer to the forest. Ghost quickly yet silently trotted towards the middle of the grass and began to herd the birds towards the well camouflaged ebony male. The rust male flicked his tail above the grass so Summer could see and ran at the turkey.

Ghost proved not to need much explaining which pleased Summer greatly. The man was intuitive and intelligent, and already was working seamlessly with his packmate though they hadn't spent much time yet together. There was no time to express his compliments however as Ghost moved in to herd them towards the forest where Summer was swiftly moving to position himself for the kill.

The turkeys fluttered stupidly at the edge of the woods, some floundering into the underbrush while others scattered and darted back out towards the field. Summer leaped forward at those that stumbled over the forest floor, landing squarely upon the back of one such bird and digging his jaws deeply into its spine. With a snap of its bones, he knew that one bird at least was going no where. His gaze shifting up at the rest of the scene, he looked to Ghost to see how exactly he was faring with the flock.

Ghost jumped and grabbed two of the birds with his yellowing teeth, slamming them down with enough force to break their necks. The rust male soon jumped and grabbed one more, using the same method as before. "Alright, I think that's enough." Ghost barked through the tall grass to the younger male. The wolf grasped the three turkeys in his jaws, and pranced through the grass.

Summer's gaze landed on the older male as he killed his third turkey. His brows lifted in surprise to see him with so many dangling from his jaws. It seemed a bit like overkill to him, but he wasn't about to complain. The more food the better. If he had it his way, their caches would be so overfull that Winter that they started using the leftovers to decorate their dens with. They were a long way off from that, but it was a nice thought regardless.

The young wolf turned to watch as the remaining birds scrambled into the woods and away. He likely could have chased down a couple more himself, but four seemed like a good enough haul. Looking back at his companion, Summer shared a smile. "Nice catch," he complimented, pawing absently at his own kill, "We should drag the extra out into the Oasis and store them in one of those caches by the meeting area so all of our wolves can enjoy them."

"Thanks! Nice catch yourself." Ghost mumbled, turkey swinging in his jaws. The older male quickly followed Summer as they began to head back to the place where they began.

Ghost again was agreeable to Summer's suggestion, and so the two collected their catch and began the trek back. They walked in silence for a little while before Summer, as best as he could with a dead turkey in his mouth, said, "You know, if you ever want to talk about them... I know what it's like to lose the only family you've ever known."

He fell quiet again then, not feeling the need to elaborate unless encouraged. After all, he didn't share such painful secrets for his own sake.

Ghost's smile faded as the gleam left his eyes. He opened his jaws to speak only to let the turkey to fall out. "Well to begin," Ghost said picking up his turkeys, "My name isn't Ghostwatcher, I just took on that name for how I felt." The older male looked up, his teal eye glittering with sorrow and joy. "I'm Birchwind. I received that name because when I was born our nest was in the roots of an old birch tree while the north wind blew, almost freezing me to death. My parents were so upset, they didn't know what to do." Ghost chuckled, a tear ran down his face. He soon frowned again. "I was too young to remember when they... My aunt had told me that they loved me so much and that they would have wanted me to live somewhere warmer where I would be safe." Ghost looked at Summer, his teal eyes glazed.

It seemed that his companion had been waiting only for the invitation to do so before he unloaded the deep-seeded pain he'd been holding inside. Summer was a bit surprised, but not at all judgmental at the stories Ghost weaved for him. It seemed there was more to trouble the poor elder than just the death of his mate and cubs. Trouble had been stalking his footsteps for a long, long time.

He pondered Ghost's words for a moment before he noticed the tears upon the old wolf's face. There was little he could say on the death of his parents that would ease the hurt, so instead, he simply leaned forward to nose away the salty tracks upon his tawny cheek, then gave him a comforting smile. "Birchwind," he said softly, "You should consider changing it back as an honor to your parents and to all others who loved you as such. I'm sure they would see you live well in the way that they knew you, rather than see you spend your life watching their ghosts as it slips away from you."

Summer knew that was how Dhani and Mom would have wanted for him. Surely Birchwind's family would have felt the same.

Ghost looked at the ebony male in surprise. "You really think I should?" He asked, scratching his ear. "You know what I will change it back!" Ghost howled as he sat up straight. "I will now and forever be known as Birchwind!"

I'll finish this up for us. Thanks for the thread!

Ghost took to his renaming with what seemed like joy after a moment of surprise. Summer allowed the smile to slip across his face at the man's enthusiasm. He truly felt it would be a good thing for him to get back to his roots and back to the name he'd held during the times in his life when he'd been happiest. Maybe it would be a rebirth for him so he could spend the remainder of his days trying to recapture that happiness instead of wallowing in the darkness of his past.

Unable to help himself, Summer tipped his own muzzle back to join his voice with Birchwind's in celebration. After a few minutes of singing, he finally fell quiet and looked back at the old wolf with a smile. "Come, Birchwind," he said, "Let's stash these away and maybe find some of our pack and make sure they heard the announcement." With that, Summer leaned down to grasp a couple of the birds in his teeth and trotted off towards the Oasis with his friend as planned.