The Crimson River *Prologue, Part 2*

    Snowflakes surfed the gale into the clearing from the north, promising a harsh Winter to come.  Stormcloud organized the wolves of his pack for the day, seemingly not paying any heed to the weather.  That brought concern among the younger pack-mates, including Stormcloud's son Shadow.  Shadow had noticed more of the elder wolves moving in with the healers, becoming ill from the cold, and was quick to catch on to the similarities between his father's attitude and the elders'; usually Stormcloud would do anything to take care of his pack, not just stand there and let them fall victim to the season.  Shadow wasn't the only one who caught on to the changes in their leader, either.
    Midnight stood by Shadow's side, watching Stormcloud seek shelter in his den after the orders were given.  She followed Shadow and he padded into the den after his father.
    "What about the rest of us?" Shadow blurted when he was standing in front of Stormcloud.  Midnight blinked confusedly, not expecting that to be the question for their leader, but she stayed silent.
    "What do you mean, Shadow?  You're all too young to be given tasks around here..." Stormcloud rasped.
    "Young?  We're around a year old, now.  And I spent months of my life waiting to help out around here, instead of just watching everybody.  I'd say I'm old enough to become leader, myself, if something happened to you."
    Stormcloud, confused from fever, looked Shadow up and down.  Then he shook his head and stood up.  "Yes, I see that now.  You're not pups anymore.  Why not stand as guardians for the day?"
    Shadow considered the task.  "But I want Midnight to be with me.  Gaurdians stand on the opposite sides of the clearing to scout for danger.  I don't want to stand that far away from her..."
    "Then you both guard the same spot!" Stormcloud snapped, muttering to himself, "Stupid kids... They ask for a task then don't want to take it..."  He paused, realizing the two were still there and listening.  "Well, off with you!"
    Shadow exhaled sharply through his nose with discontentment, then lead Midnight back out of the den.  He began to head for the forest to assume their spot as guardians, then changed his mind and sat on the rock that overhung the clearing where the remaining six wolves each around Shadow's age took notice of his presence and gathered below.
    "I want you to excuse my father for treating you all like pups," Shadow started as they settled down.  The pack was getting used to him taking over his fathers duties, especially since Stormcloud had become so distant from them.  Midnight still said nothing. "I fear Stormcloud is getting sick, so I'll be the one to assign tasks to the rest of you."
    "Stormcloud said we're too young to be assigned tasks," said Cotton, a white wolf and the youngest of the gathered.
    "He also said that bears aren't around here, but we all saw those tracks in the forest the other day," Shadow growled in reply.  More calmly, he added, "He's not in his prime anymore.  He doesn't always know what's best for you all."
    Cotton bowed his head, his fur bristled slightly with nervousness at his future-leader's reply.  "So what should we do?"
    "You, Lightning, and Rose see what you can do for the Healers.  We need more of them if we want to prevent sickness from spreading."
    "Okay."  Cotton obediently padded toward the healers, with the golden wolf Lightning and the reddish-brown she-wolf Rose tailing him.
    Midnight's eyes were glued to Lightning as his muscular physique disappeared into the Healer's den.  Shadow didn't notice.
    "Violet and Pine, you can be caretakers today."
    "What about me?  You always assign me as a guardian!  Do you think I'm not responsible enough to be a caretaker too?" Daisy, a light-brown she-wolf protested.
    "I just figured I'd divide the tasks according how necessary they are,"  Shadow answered, meeting her hostility with a collective calm.  "But if you're going to make such a fuss, then go ahead and join them as caretakers.  Don't get mad at me if something happens here because of our shortage of guardians."
    "Shadow's right. And it's better than sitting around all day," Pine, a black-and-brown wolf said to Daisy in a comforting voice.
    Daisy watched Pine lead Violet, a light gray she-wolf, to the pups' den and momentarily felt bad, before dignifying herself and eagerly joining them.  She cast a last glare at Shadow.  Shadow met her gaze without showing emotion until Daisy looked away and vanished into the pups' den.
    "Shall we go, now?" Midnight spoke for the first time, snapping Shadow out of it.
    "Y-yeah," he stammered, leaping down from the rock and guiding Midnight through the forest to fulfill their tasks as guardians.
    "Are you worried about Stormcloud?" Midnight asked quietly.
    "Should I be?  It's probably just a cold he has.  I mean, the Healers don't seem bothered enough by it to help him," Shadow pointed out.
    "But I once saw him decline their care.  It could be more serious than age, or a cold..."
    "Don't worry yourself.  Nightfall wouldn't allow his assistants to let his leader die just because he was asked to...right?"
    Midnight sighed.  "I don't know.  I guess not."
    The two sat down together and listened to the quiet of their surroundings for anything that could be a threat.  So far, nothing.  Midnight yawned and looked at Shadow, who slowly drifted into thought. He has smelled pretty sick for a while...even longer than the pups who had colds...  If he's denying care for himself, he'll only continue to get worse...  Maybe I should talk to him.
    "Are you okay, Shadow?"  Midnight inquired.
    Shadow blinked and faced her.  "No, I'm not.  I'm going to talk with my father and see what's going on with him.  You stay here and guard."
    "Okay.  Good luck, Shadow," Midnight murmured, then obediently tuned in with the environment.
    Shadow walked back towards the clearing at a slow pace, deep in thought. I already lost Raindrop... I won't lose my father too.  He sped up until he reemerged into the clearing.  Daisy glimpsed him dart into Stormcloud's den.


    "Bears!" came the sudden warning howl of a guardian little ways from Midnight.
    The few wolves in the clearing froze at the sound in disbelief.  Guardians rushed into the open, ready to defend to their pack-mates.  In a heartbeat, a family consisting of three grizzlies stormed in through the trees, hardly paying any mind to the same guardian that had alerted the pack, which was biting at the smallest bear in a vain attempt to chase it away.  The rest of the guardians joined in the attack on the bears.      The few caretakers there were lined up in front of the entry to the pups' den, ready to defend the youths with their lives.  The healers came as close to the battle as they could without getting involved, waiting for an opportunity to provide a quick fix to any injury their pack-mates may receive.  
    "I'm fine! Go take care of those bears, boy," Stormcloud demanded.
    "What about you?  I can't just leave you for the bears to eat!" Shadow exclaimed.
    "Then protect my den!" Stormcloud growled.
    Shadow hesitated, then exited the leader's den, teary-eyed, and turned his attention to the attack. Swallowing his emotion, he called out to the guardians that weren't being injured in the bears' wake, "Give them the carcasses!"
    "Are you mad?!  That's our only food!  If we give it up, we won't have any more until next Spring!" Daisy shrieked.  Yelps of agreement with Daisy followed her words.
    "Sacrifices have to be made sometimes!  Either live now and starve later, or die now and not live to eat again!" Shadow snarled.
    The bears managed to make their way halfway to the food-pile, leaving behind them a handful of maimed guardians with healers doing all they could to save them.  
    "Give them the food!" Shadow repeated frantically.
    "I'd rather die than let these brutes steal from us!" Violet cried, leaping at the bears.  Daisy backed slowly into the pups' den.
    "No, protect the pups!" Shadow cried. "Stay away from the bears, all of you!"
    A few of the guardians retreated from the grizzlies obediently.  The majority of wolves didn't listen, however.  Shadow gathered his courage and leaped from the rock outside Stormcloud's den and charged across the battle field toward the carcasses that would have served as food for days to come.  Reluctantly, he gripped one in his mouth and tossed it at the bears.  The grizzlies were distracted by the food for a moment, but as Violet bit the second one's ankle, it roared and both bears focused on their attackers, ignoring the food.
    Wait...both?  There are only two here!  Where is the-- Stormcloud gasped with horror as he spotted the last bear sniffing around outside of the leader's den.  He felt his insides rip in two, one half wanting to rescue his father and the other needing to put a stop the other two monsters in front of him.  His mind was blanking out as he realized how little time he had before most of the pack was wiped out.  Then Midnight took her place beside him.
    "I'll stop the wolves.  You give the bears the food," she instructed.
 Shadow hesitated, then looked back to his father's den.  The third bear was nowhere to be seen.  He gave himself a mental shake and did as Midnight said, as she charged into the fight.  It took a moment before the disobedient guardians were chased off by Midnight.  The bears grudgingly roared at the canines, but were distracted once more by the food thrown at them by Shadow.  With no more wolves to steal their attention away from their goal, the grizzlies accepted the carcasses and left.
    For a moment, there was stunned silence.  Healers tended to the injured wolves, caretakers comforted the pups, patched-up guardians cautiously returned to their posts.  It was like the world were afraid to make a sound or the bears would come back.  Shadow didn't move from where he was, scared to know what might have happened to his father, the guilt eating away at his stomach. He didn't notice when Midnight prodded him with a worried nose.
    "It's okay, Shadow.  I'll check on Stormcloud for you..." she murmured, leaving him so she could do just that.
    The silence was broken as the hunting parties returned, carrying the little bit of prey they could find to the now-nonexistent food-pile.  They froze as they realized their previous catches were missing, and looked around at the bloody clearing.  "What happened, here?!"
    "He gave the bears our food!" Cotton, who had remained inside the healers' den the entire fight, blurted out as he realized how they had gotten the bears to leave.  Uneasy mutters broke out among the wolves.
    "Bears attacked us," Pine explained.  "Surrendering our food was what got them away."
    "We could have drove them away without surrendering it!" said Violet, glaring accusingly at Shadow.
    Shadow didn't reply, didn't look up, didn't show any emotion.  The muttering of the wolves seemed to grow louder.
    "Stormcloud... Stormcloud is dead," Midnight announced as she slinked out of the late leader's den.
    The voices of the wolves rose into a mixture of yelps and concerned whimpering.  "Who did this?"  "Was it the bears?" "It couldn't have been the bears--we were fighting with them the whole time!"
    Shadow stared at her, shock and grief overwhelming him..  "He was fine when I checked on him...  How could he be...?"  Then he remembered seeing the third bear outside his den.  "Nightfall...  There was a bear near his den not long ago.  Check his wound, we can tell if it was a bear that killed him."
     The healer obeyed and went into the deceased alpha's den.  After a few moments, he announced, "His throat has been torn out...by an adult wolf."
    Midnight said nothing more, watching her pack-mates grievously.
    Daisy stepped forward. "I know what happened, now," she said softly.  Some cries of the pack died down to listen. "This whole thing was done on purpose.  The bears' attack and the death of our leader.  It was just a big set-up."
    "What are you talking about?!" a wolf yelped. "Who would do such a thing?"
    "It was none other than Shadow," Daisy said, gradually raising her voice above the barks of disbelief from the crowd.  "You heard what he said earlier.  'Stormcloud is not in his prime.  He doesn't know what's best for you.' 'Sacrifices have to be made sometimes.'  And he was the one giving orders at both times.  It's obvious he wanted to be the one to lead--not Stormcloud, his own father.  Not to mention that was on guard duty before the bears came.  He must've seen them coming!
    "So what was the first thing he did when he got back?  He paid a visit to his father," Daisy continued, practically yelling over the outraged voices of her pack-mates.  "He killed Stormcloud, just like he killed Raindrop--my sister! He knew the bears were coming so he could blame Stormcloud's death on them, just so he could become leader!"
    Midnight was trembling with emotion, one of the few wolves silent, apparently struggling to take in what Daisy was saying.  Shadow slowly lifted his gaze from the ground and stared sadly at Midnight, his closest living friend.
    "I killed no-one," Shadow choked out, fighting back the overflowing sorrow that ached in every inch of his body.  "I saw the third bear outside his den.  If it wasn't a bear that killed him, then..."
    "Then who did?!  Raindrop was killed the same way Stormcloud was..!" Daisy reminded them.
    "I believe Shadow's innocent," Nightfall's apprentice, a silver she-wolf named Tulip, stood beside their new leader.  Pine and a few caretakers also stood by Shadow, defending his innocence.
    One by one, the wolves chose their sides, albeit very few ended up with Shadow, whom just gazed at Midnight, praying for her support, scarcely letting show the pain he was feeling inside.  Midnight's face was twisted with raw emotion.
    "I'm sorry, Shadow..." she said wholeheartedly.  "I don't know what happened after you left me to guard alone.  I can never tell what you're feeling most of the time, either... I want to believe you...but..." She swallowed hard. "Daisy wasn't the only one that had a close relationship with Raindrop."
    Shadow's eyes slowly widened at the impact of her words.  "But that day I fought with Daisy...you said you no longer believed I killed her."
    "I know, Shadow... I just...don't know what to believe anymore.  I'm sorry, but...I...I can't help you anymore... I just can't..."
    The pain in Shadow's heart intensified.  First Raindrop...then my father... Now, my closest friend...  He doubled over, his forehead pressed against the ground in sheer distress, tears running down his face.  The roars of his former pack-mates became a distant sound, the wolves supporting him vanished from his mind, and he stayed in that position until his tears ran out, which took seconds that felt like an eternity.  His sorrow dissipated.  The moons he had lived up until this moment shattered along with his memories of them.  He stood up tall, the scornful voices of the surrounding wolves coming back in at full force.
    "You're in exile, along with the traitors who've sided with you," the crowd on Daisy's side chanted.  "Leave!  You're not fit to be leader, nor pack-mate!"
    Shadow gave Midnight a blank stare before he turned around and walked away, with his few supporters following him.